Corresponding Marks
by GraciellaRed74
Summary: HB/OFC: Follows the movies What happens when a forbidden destiny cannot help but be fulfilled? And how could something so evil feel so much like love?
1. Noises in the Dark

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

Chapter 1

How was he going to tell his father? That thought and all the others permeated through sleep and Red's amber eyes sprang open, greeted by the surrounding darkness of his room. The anxiety and uncertainty were climbing to their peaks again, and he immediately moved to sit up and cup his hands over his face, willing some answer to it all to finally come to him, when slight movement across his broad red chest reminded him he was not alone. That realization brought relief and he sighed, tilting his head downwards to brush his chin lovingly against the small fingers that lay over the settling beat of his heart.

"HB," Larena suddenly stirred, turning her face to his and sitting up, brushing her red hair behind her ear. It was dark but he could feel her eyes searching his awkwardly. "What is it?"

Now he felt guilty, not only for waking her, but also for being so consumed with his own worries and hesitations. It wasn't his soul on the line, after all. She'd already given up or lost so much by consequence of opening her cell door one night to find him skulking up the corridor of Saint Rita's Convent, and now she was facing mythic danger, and all because of him. He owed her his strength and his protection. Well, no, he didn't [I]owe[/I] her a thing; he wanted to give her all that he was.

"Hey," he began to force a casual smile but it came easier than he expected as he stroked her face ever so gently with his granite fingers. She always had been able to bring a peace to him that he'd never known existed. "Just let me worry about it, Lar. I told you, it's all on me, you should be taking it easy."

She smiled, turned her face to kiss his stone thumb and ran her soft fingers up the abrasiveness of his right forearm. It was hard now to believe she was once so afraid of him, that upon their first meeting in the corridor of her former cloister, she'd doused him with holy water and held up a cross to him. It had only been a few weeks, but so much had happened since that night. "It shouldn't be all on you, Red. That doesn't sound very fair."

Red exhaled and rolled his yellow eyes, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. Was it fair that he'd had her hidden in his room for nearly the last two weeks, not saying a word to anyone as to her presence, or his relationship with her? Was it fair that she'd forgone taking her final vows as a bride of Christ? Was it fair that demons and angels alike were now hunting her? And was it fair that for all that had been revealed to her, that the most major of changes, for both of them, perhaps the greatest threat humanity had ever faced, was still yet to come? And was it fair that he hadn't quite explained all of that last one to her? "What in life is fair?" Upon his words and demeanor Red heard Larena's concerned murmur as she leaned over him, about to speak, the tips of her fingers softly stroked over the place where an eyebrow would have been had he been what she was.

"You know what scares me the most out of everything we've been through?" Her voice was as soft as her soothing touch, but Red groaned as if scolded. "Yes, when you talk like that." Larena acknowledged sighing as her glance fell towards her belly, but then back up at his fire hued stare. "I know neither of us planned for any of this, I mean, how could we have? But I want to be happy about it, it's not all bad, I am happy that you're here and in my life and in my future. I have a piece of you forever!" She smiled, her eyes sparkling at the corner with joyous tears. "I love you, Red! But when you talk like that, it's so hard for me to not feel like you regret it all."

Red sat up with a jerk, shaking his head emphatically, the former feeling of culpability now joined by how stupid he realized he was. After all, she didn't know everything that he knew, and how could he be sorry that he'd ever met her? "Regret it?" He repeated, voice a bit louder than he'd planned. "Babe, no," he half gasped as a tornado of the right words to say whipped through his brain, but none seemed reachable as he took her by the shoulders, and then nearly smothered her in his strong embrace, kissing the top of her head. "Don't ever think that, okay? Just promise you won't ever think that again."

"Alright," Larena promised, but it was muffled against the red skin of his chest and she pushed against him a bit, tried to get him to let go so that she could look him in the eyes and promise, but Red's hold didn't budge, if anything, it got tighter, as though he couldn't hold her closely enough. A solemn smile crossed her lips, for she'd been so surprised that a being with the confidence and swagger of Red needed so often to be cuddled and snuggled. His need for this type of contact had all at once delighted her and saddened her for she wondered as to the loneliness he'd lived with for so long. She wove her arms as much around his broad chest as she could and held him as tightly as she was able, no match for his strength or warmth, but she could feel his powerful muscles relaxing one by one against her embrace. "It'll be okay, Red." She whispered, eyes closed and cheek to his large pectoral muscle as a set of strong fingers, some of flesh and some of granite began to lightly dance up her back. "It'll be okay, we'll make sure it is." Red gradually pulled away, looking down at her for a split second as though he might say something, but she wasn't surprised when he leaned closer and kissed her instead, halting all conversation.

Without even thinking about it, Red leaned into her, his big body pressing hers down against the mattress beneath him as he kissed her, seeking the best comfort there was. This consummation should never have been, it was forbidden and foretold to bring about doom, but such dark intelligence was far from Red's mind whenever they made love. They'd only been kissing one another for about a month, but it hadn't taken long for each of them to find their place in the osculation, Larena giving, him taking, both of them guiding the other to a more intimate destination; one kiss was never enough, not ever. His tongue flicked at hers before curling into a knot with it, drawing it into his own mouth as he took his weight on his elbows above her. Larena's legs clasped around his waist, her body well aware of the stiffened, long, heavy rod he ground into the bend of her thigh with a low groan, her hips bucking against his, increasing both their arousals.

Red's left hand slid down her body, over his own throbbing length and gently into the wet heat between Larena's thighs. There had been a time when he'd been certain that any physical union between them would leave her brutalized and bloodied, but her persistence and his desires had worn him down, and proven him happily wrong. She always seemed ready for him now, her body custom fitted to his uniqueness and power, and while he would never forget how much more fragile she was than his kind, he now understood that when she lay beneath him begging him for more, that she could take it.

His name escaped her in a moan as his thick fingers buried themselves in the warm, slick furrows within her slit, exploring them as he did each time he touched her, he so loved to touch her, here in this lush, softness where only he knew her. She was the first and only woman ever to reveal such mysteries to him, for centerfolds had still managed to leave much to his imagination. But not Larena, though he knew he should have never laid a hand on her, not ever. Some swore Larena was a witch, like his own mother, and he was a demon, like his father. He knew the dangers of what a union between them may bring about, but he'd been unable to help himself. He'd blame the fact that she was a woman of rare beauty and he was, after all male, but he knew it was more than that.

Ever since that first kiss he'd found himself easily able to take her at a moments notice. The briefest brush of her lithe body against his, the smell of her long red hair on the wind, the coyest of glances from her deep blue eyes above the most impish of smiles, and he was hard, ready, eager and able. He'd been more hesitant than she the first time, but no longer, there was no getting enough of her; their current circumstances proof of that.

She wriggled beneath him now, encouraging his hand upwards where he knew she was most sensitive; her fingernails already known against the flexing muscles of his back. Knowing she wanted him burned him hotter than any fire ever could, the massive red hardness jutting up from between his thighs aquiver with its tremendous need to be burrowing inside her, baptized in her elixirs and the sensations that always raced up from the tip of his staff, clear to his spine, and wrapped around his heart, joining them as one. A slight and sudden spasm gripped his heavy egg shaped balls and he shuddered as a few drops of hot, nearly clear fluid squeezed from the thrumming head of his cock onto Larena's hip, her body moving against his in reply to his need. He deepened their kiss further, his tongue plunging into and out of her mouth in some inadequate offering to his body's ravenousness. He'd had brief thoughts of bending his neck between her legs and drinking in her pleasure as he gave it to her, he loved the taste of her, loved his tongue snaking through her most delicate and secret of places, the way it made the power in him swell to have her body in so visceral a way; her taste made him growl deep in his throat and surge to devour her. But he had no concentration for that now; he wanted to fuck her.

"Red," she whispered as her breasts thrust up against his chest with her need, his fingers not moving nearly fast enough to the spot she wished they would find. The pulsating of his cock so close to her ready channel making her impatient with want. She felt herself swelling against the stroke of his fingers, so wet that the tips of Red's digits occasionally slipped teasingly within her, only to be pulled from her before her body could hug them. Oh but she longed to be snugly full of him, of his exceptional cock, all but the length of a hammer and thick enough that her fingers barely met around its girth. His organ was deeper red than the skin of his body but covered with the same scrolling pattern present on his arms and chest, something Larena had noticed provided a wondrous sensation against the walls of her sheath when he moved within her. Move within her…she couldn't wait any longer. "You don't have to be so careful," she tried to not sound as desperate as she felt, for Red was enough of a devil to tease her until she felt near insanity with how she wanted him, but her breath hitched excitedly in her throat as she spoke. "Don't be so careful," she repeated in a husky whisper, spreading her legs wider and rocking her hips side to side in rhythm to the pounding in both her and his most eager quarters.

That was all he needed to hear. His mouth fell to her neck kissing and biting lightly, so lightly given his power, until his lips and tongue found the fullness of her breasts, seeking out her nipple and sucking it hard into the warmth of his mouth as he eased himself back, taking his weight on his knees between her legs. Larena moaned in anticipation as he took his big cock in one hand, her eyes staring hungrily at both their groins as Red's back arched and drew the crown of his begging organ against her tender pink folds. She braced herself, pushed her teeth against her lower lip as she awaited the intense jolt of his most welcomed invasion of her body, longed to savor the first waves of ecstasy that would only amplify with each hard, heavy, thick inch of his cock that sank into her until his heaving balls met flush with her bottom and there was no more of him to take, but Red was suddenly reluctant.

He should have thought about it earlier tonight, but all thought had been abandoned the moment his lips had met hers; he hoped it hadn't affected anything. As unsure as he was of what grew within Larena's womb, he couldn't bring himself to cause his child any harm, he just couldn't. Red sighed a moment, collected himself from the passionate madness that fought to consume him, then leaned over her again and kissed her softly but quickly. "We've been going at it kinda hard, might not be the best thing for you and…" his left hand gently palmed her still flat stomach. "I think we better switch places this time."

Larena smiled, touched at how protective he already was over their unborn, but still she protested. "But that doesn't work as well for you," she said sweetly, her fingers climbing the thick muscle of his arm and lightly tracing the scrolling designs in his biceps. "I want you to be satisfied too." She lifted her head and began to kiss his neck, hoping to persuade him, for not only did she somehow know that the child would suffer no harm, Larena thrilled to have Red above her and longed for the feeling that she was solidly his that it gave her. He was so strong, so powerful above her, his body met and overmatched hers at every one of her soft curves to his hardened muscle, and in the end, conquered her in a type of divinity better than that which she'd sought in the cloister.

"Lar, c'mon, it's not like I don't get anything from—" Red's interpretation was cut short by a sudden explosion of pleasure radiating up his cock, Larena's hand closed firmly around it and she smiled mischievously up at him as a hissing groan rumbled through his big chest. He'd noticed the very first time she touched him there that she liked the feel of the continuously etched patterns that covered the shaft of his cock, and she made no secret of that now, her fingers finding every looping crest as her fist pumped up down his length. He thrust into her grasp involuntarily, so easily undone by Larena's ministrations, for unlike human males who were created with only one seat of immense sensitivity at the underside of the head of their members, every ridge of each filigreed line along Red's cock sparked fervent vibrations. The night had begun with him reaching his point as Larena merely followed each enhancing edge with her tongue. His whole body shook now as her fingers tickled along each erotic pathway; so much for trying to cool down long enough to think straight, he had to have her.

Red's left arm slipped beneath the small of Larena's back as he arched his, lifting her hips easily to his own, feeling the aching head of his cock glide through the moist crinolines of her slit and straight down to her suppliant opening. Another shiver over took him at the thought of what was split seconds away, he growled in hungry anticipation, then slammed his hips forward, cleanly ramming the entirety of his length deep inside her, feeling her muscular walls fight to grasp him and squeeze tightly, but ultimately being overpowered and making her shudder beneath him as he kissed her hard, swallowing the lustful scream that began to escape her lips. Oh, she was like silk, warm, wet, vivacious silk! His chest heaved against her own quickly rising and falling breasts, her stiff nipples pressing into his red skin, he pulled away from their blazing kiss to catch his breath. "You always push me," he gasped, his lips centimeters from hers, Larena unable to stop kissing him even as he spoke, her hips lifting off the mattress to meet his, begging him to move, but a smile turned up the corners of Red's mouth. Once more his left hand held her against him, he thrust himself a bit deeper, as deep as he would go, both he and Larena moaning together as their bodies further melded, and he held himself there, and wrenched himself onto his back, reversing their positions. Out of breath and near the edge as her weight impaled her deeper upon him, Red's smile became full. "But I always win."

It was difficult to draw a steady enough breath to speak with so much of her lover so suddenly deep inside her, but somehow Larena managed, though her thighs trembled against his, and if not for her hands braced against his massive chest, she'd have fallen upon him. "Do you?" she smiled down at him as she gasped. "A guy like you, you're so much more about a dominant role in everything."

Just the sound of her breathy half whisper made him feel heady, but when combined with tresses of her hair tickling against his chest and nipples and the awesome feel of her satiny sheath around his throbbing cock, Red was in no condition to argue. "Just move, Lar," his voice was low, eyes closed, both his hands coming to rest on her hips. "Move, take what I've got and fuck me."

She did, not one to tease as much as he liked to himself, finding climax above him within a few moments after grinding and swiveling her hips against his strong frame. Larena's rhythm was quick and driven, raising herself as much as she could up on her knees above him to achieve the most intense feelings of coming back down upon his cock again, tightening and contracting her stretched channel as much as she could, her body jerking at his organ as though she stroked him with her hand. She could feel Red building beneath her the whole time, cock swelling inside her until she could name each scrolling ridge etched upon it as their likeness rubbed against her slick canal, winding up yet another climax. He was close; she could feel it in both his agitated organ and read it in the strain of all his muscles and clenched teeth. The hands on her hips that guided her upon him suddenly tightened their grip as Red's back arched away from the bed, pulling her even more against him in some effort to bury himself deeper, but he was already as deep as he could be, and his hips bucked up against hers impetuously, every nerve ending taxed to its limit, cock and balls swelled enough to blow, but still, relief could not be found. Larena moved faster, thrust herself at him harder, tried to be as satisfyingly rough with him as he was with her, but she was no where near as strong as he was, no where near.

There came a growl that could only be described as 'demonic,' despite Red's true nature, and in a whirl of red skin and bed sheets, Larena found herself suddenly and forcefully thrown to her back, her legs extended up and spread around Red in a perfect "V," allowing him unspoiled access to fuck her as hard as he began to, the fearsome, other worldly growl dying in his throat as slamming into her finally began to unwind the passionate tension which trapped him. There was little she could do but grab hold of his broad shoulders and hold on as he thrust so vigorously the headboard of the king size bed knocked against the wall.

A few seconds later the bed was still, the banging sound of the headboard replaced with the panting and heavy breathing of both of them as the fiery heat of Red's release subsided within her. His spent organ slipped from within her, lying wet and soft against her thigh, her own body still shivering with the after effects of the orgasm that had clashed with his. Red tried to move off of her, but he'd still not gotten his breath and his great strength was yet to return; he collapsed above her, his forehead just beneath her breasts, Larena's arms wrapping around what she could reach of him, not willing to break any contact with his body just yet. Why fight it? Red turned his head to the side and snuggled into her, almost able to breathe normally now, but still relishing in how she held him.

"Hey," he smirked, able now to speak as Larena's strength also slowly returned. She looked down at him inquisitively and Red chuckled. "I told you I always win."

She laughed, smoothing his hair back in place. "But you don't let it go to your head, that's what I like best about you." She smirked back.

Again Red chuckled, pushing himself up with his arms and leaning forward to kiss her when a bang on the giant sealed door of his quarters interrupted, and lead to the intrusion of Myers voice. "Damn it!" Red bit out, then sighed, looked down at Larena and shook his head, gently laying a finger to her lips. "You know what time it is, John?" He yelled towards the door.

"Well," replied John in a sardonic tone. "That's actually why I'm wondering just what is going on in there!"

"It's nothing," Red immediately insisted, but realized he had to come up with something, but what? "Just…playing some basketball…with…the cats." He felt Larena's lips twitch beneath his finger and when he glanced down at her she was stifling a laugh and looking up at him as if to ask, "what?" Red stifled his own laugh and shrugged his shoulders, looking back at the door and adding, "Leave me alone, will ya?"

"HB," John sighed, obviously unimpressed with that scenario. "This is the fourth time tonight there's been some kind of…commotion in there."

"Hey," Red answered confidently. "Don't blame me, there's four quarters aren't there?" At that part of a laugh nearly escaped Larena, who quickly cupped her own hand over her mouth, and Red felt himself getting giggly just watching her fight laughter. He had to get rid of John. "Look, I'll tell you about it in the morning, it's nothing, just get some sleep." He suggested, but couldn't resist winking down at Larena and adding, "I've got it all under control." And Larena pressed her hand a little harder over her mouth as her eyes strained closed in silent laughter.

"If you say so, then." John muttered, his voice growing fainter as he moved away from the door. "Just try to keep it down to a roar in there, okay?"

"You got it, buddy!" Replied Red, then listened until he was sure Myers was gone before letting himself laugh, and Larena joining him, laughing until their lips met in that delayed kiss, sweet and affectionate, but void of the previous fire.

"So," Larena sighed as Red rolled off of her and took her against his big chest in his arms. She hesitated to ask, but at the same time, she was desperate to know. "We can't hide this forever," her hand fell over her belly. "When are we telling them what is going on in here?"

Red groaned, he didn't like thinking about this, but she was right. "I don't know," he admitted. "As soon as I figure out how to tell them." And how did he tell them? The one thing he was never supposed to do, he did. His father was going to be pissed! No, he didn't even want to think about it, he was tired. "You need your sleep, Lar. No more 'roaring' tonight, you wore me out." He smiled, hugging her to him and kissing her forehead, trying to think of anything but making this all known to everyone, and there was one thing that always worked, and it was so frequently on his mind. "But it is nice to finally be getting the most out of this bed!"


	2. Meetings

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

The night she'd met Red it was ironically the silence that had awakened her. For the first time in her life that Larena could remember there was suddenly no constant chatter, or yelling or weeping or desperate voices frantic to get her attention. Bewildered, she opened her eyes to look around her cramped cell, stunned when it looked as empty to her as it would have to anyone else. Where had they all gone? Her heart leapt in exuberant triumph; she'd been trying for so long to get rid of them or hide from them and now they were gone! The church had worked! Committing herself to God had worked! Hadn't it?

Larena cautiously peered into the darkness, searching every corner for the familiar ghostly shapes she'd been seeing all her life, listened for the faintest whisper of a disembodied voice, got out of bed and paced the length of her cell slowly, trying to find any cold spots in the room, but there was nothing. Nothing! Finally, twenty-five years of confusing, disconcerting, sometimes frightening intrusions had come to an end, and all it had taken was the church? Oh but she'd tried everything to block out or disband those recently passed and unhappy spirits that had forever haunted her! She'd been shuffled from psychologist to psycho-therapist as a child, had turned to alcohol and illegal drugs as a teenager, had as an adult joined a coven and attended sabots, cast circles on the ground and chanted spells of protection from all spirits and marked herself with alfalfa ashes to ward off the ghosts. But modern psychology had only made her feel that something was wrong with her, being drunk and high only blurred the ghostly images and delayed her reaction time to them, and witchcraft, while effective enough to make her still wear the pouch of St. John's Wort, Fennel and Lavender around her neck, only kept some of the needy and cantankerous spirits away for a limited amount of time. The church, becoming a nun, had been her most recent hope, and now, it seemed as though it had not failed her!

She smiled, feeling such a great freedom rain down upon her. Finally, she would know what it was like to live life like everyone else did—falling asleep in actual silence, able to converse with another person and hear only the words they said to her, able to make actual friends without fear of them thinking she was a nervous wreck or crazy, and perhaps friendship would lead to more. She'd often longed to share the company of someone who was more than a friend, to feel that someone wanted her and loved her, but with the affliction she suffered, how could she truly be alone with anyone? How could she be intimate with anyone with so many people in the room? How could she love anyone when she so despised herself for being unable to conquer this curse? How could she have anything to offer someone else when all that she was seemed to be an open door way where spirits continuously stepped through? But no longer! She was free!

Wait a minute; was she free? No. For the last three years she'd been known as Sister Balfour, not Larena Balfour, in a few more weeks, she took her final vows, she was becoming a nun! And nuns didn't spend hours just lounging in bed napping, nuns didn't go out with girlfriends to Ladies Night, and nuns certainly didn't date. Freedom; it hadn't been granted in the manner she'd always sought to have it. She wasn't a nun, not on the inside, there were too many desires that she couldn't shrug off and Larena knew it. Perhaps this was some joke on her played by those spirits she'd tried for so long to banish; that which would keep them away would imprison her yet?

A new heaviness was just coming over her when a noise startled her, heightened her paranoia and again she began to search her cell for the presence of any spirits, perhaps they weren't gone after all? But still, there was nothing, no one, living or dead. She heaved a heavy sigh and collapsed onto the edge of her meager bed, trying to collect her thoughts and rein in the shattered mirth that filled her, but there was that noise again, like a careful footstep of something large and heavy, out in the corridor by her cell door. The ghosts, it had to be the ghosts, but why were they only in the hallway? Had becoming a novice nun only set up some type of perimeter around her and the spirits?

To her surprise, Larena felt herself growing angry. It wasn't fair! In the matter of a minute or two her hopes had been raised to the highest peaks and then dashed, plummeting back down like a boulder into a muddy fjord. It wasn't fair! She knew not what she could do about it, or what anyone could do about it, but the spirit outside her door was about to know her frustration full force. She leapt to her feet gathering up the skirt of her plain nightgown as she strode over to the door, and with the strength of her fury, yanked it open.

"What the hell do you want?" She yelled, her voice heavy and loud, like a pummeling fist against the stonewalls of the corridor. She gave no thought to possibly waking the Mistress of Novices or her fellow sisters in the novitiate wing of the convent, she was too despaired to consider anything but the turmoil she faced, with or without the spirits forever imposing upon her. She hadn't even focused on what stood before her, but she knew something was there, there always was after all. Details of the form in front of her were now quickly being perceived, and in a split second, Larena realized that this was no ghost.

About six and half feet tall, easily three times her weight, a real solidly, heavily muscled frame, of red. Red, she'd never seen so much abounding red skin! And eyes, yellow, deep set, bestial looking eyes, blazing against the red skin and staring widely at hers as a scream built in her throat. She felt herself trembling, panic setting in as she discerned what seemed to be some type of polled horns above the forehead of this…thing…and a tail…oh God, horns, and a tail! This had always been Larena's greatest fear; ghosts were always drawn to her, and now, a demon had come for her! She screamed louder than she had previously yelled, hysterical with her terror, and then a giant red hand of stone was clouted tightly over her mouth.

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Red knew the instant the door had swung open and she stood there before him that he'd found the thing that had been drawing him to St. Rita's for several weeks now. He knew John hated it when he went "off leash," and his father wasn't entirely pleased either, let alone how it upset the bureau, but he couldn't fight the draw of this convent. He wasn't sure what it was that filled him upon seeing this girl, this nun, an angry form of red hair and balled up fists, screaming at him as though he'd done something horrible to her. He was happy to finally find the "it" he'd been searching for here, though he didn't understand, and he was so curious and so confused, what did this all mean, and why? But then, long before he could ponder anything more than that, or even get a good look at her face, she screamed. Well, he was ugly, but still, did she have to scream as blood curdling as that? She was going to wake up all the nuns, and that's all he needed, a convent full of screaming nuns…ifilm at eleven/i. Reflex won out, and Red clamped his granite fingers over her mouth, muffling her cry and forced her back into her cell, closing the door behind them before anyone else appeared.

"Hey lady," he tried to whisper, but there was too much bubbling over inside him upon discovering her, the mystery he sought, to keep himself totally in check. "I mean, Sister," he corrected, watching her deep blue eyes bulge in terror. She had beautiful eyes, except for the terrified part. "You can stop doing that, I'm not going to do anything to you."

The nun continued to tremble and stare up at him with eyes full of horror, but that was all the recognition she gave. Well, no wonder, he was still forcing his hand, his big, clumsy, granite hand over her delicate mouth.

"Look," Red sighed. "I'm going to let you go, but don't scream." Oh no, had he just said ithat/i? Every thug said ithat/i! And he didn't want her to see him like that, it was important to him that she liked him, but he didn't know why. "I mean, this isn't what you think it is, " his physical appearance ran through his mind, horns, tail, red skin…"but I guess it does kinda looks like it is, huh?" He contemplated, searching for how to make this better. "But it's not! It's not. I promise!" Red looked down at her, making eye contact, doing his best to be sincere. But there was more than sincerity overtaking him. He'd never looked into a woman's eyes like that, or at least, he'd never seen in a woman's eyes what he saw in hers. What was that? He had to know. Did she see that same thing in his eyes? Could she even feel that whatever it was that he was feeling? What was going on? Maybe she could tell him? "I just wanna…talk, okay?"

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The sun shone so bright for six in the morning, and it was to be another day of tending the gardens of St. Rita's for Larena, a novice's duty that she'd only recently come to appreciate. She knelt by the vibrant pink flowers of the Crown of Thorns beneath the Chestnut Tree, far off from the other novices, behind the towering boxwood hedge, spreading cedar mulch evenly across the bed she worked. She smiled, it was a beautiful day, despite the babble of the ghosts around her, one of which screamed and screamed, a woman who'd met her end jumping from a tenth story building ledge. But it didn't detract from the feeling Larena had inside, or how beautiful the day was. In fact, for the last few weeks, they'd all been beautiful days, no matter the weather, and not the spirits around her had managed to depress her. If it wasn't for the obvious, and if she didn't know better, or maybe if she did, she'd swear she was in—a sprig of Blue Salvia suddenly fell across the backs of her gloved hands.

Her smile broadened, heart beating faster now, but she didn't turn to see who had dropped the flower she now picked up and held. "I knew you were here."

Red chuckled and crouched down beside her, reaching out and gently flipping the edge of her white veil over her shoulder where it hanged down across her face. He didn't like how her habit hid so much of her from him, she had such soft, long, straight red hair; he wanted to run his fingers through it. "Chased away the ghosts again, did I?"

Larena pulled off her gardening gloves and turned towards him, her attention no longer on the horns or the tail or the red skin…well, maybe that wasn't entirely true…she'd often dreamed of laying her head upon the red skin of that big, strong chest she was so often sneaking admiring glimpses at, despite her upcoming vows of purity and chastity. Red had been nothing but an evil beast to her once, but no longer. He was more human than most humans she'd known in her life, more caring and kind than any of those who had said they'd meant to help her in the past, and despite the red skin, odd appendage, fearsome features and yellow eyes, there was a rugged nobleness in his countenance that she'd come to adore. Red was big and strong and intelligent and funny and protective and gallant, the knight in shining armor every girl dreamed about. Finding such qualities in him had delighted her to standards beyond that which she'd ever imagined, but also perplexed her. How could she feel her heart swell and the most pleasant warmth course through her when she looked at him, a demon? But then, Red, he made her smile, made her laugh, sat by her bedside each night until she fell asleep, in a quiet cell; how could her Red be a demon?

"I can always count on you to make the spirits go away," she smiled at him, and picked up the sprig of blue flowers he'd given her. "Salvia," she said to him, brushing it over his deep brown sideburns, then giggled like a schoolgirl. "It's for salvation, I think that's what you are to me."

Salvation? The word for some reason made Red cringe, but not because it had caused him any harm, he'd just hoped she'd say he was…more? Hmm, best not to linger too long on that. "Hey, I asked a friend of mine, Abe, about that whole chasing away the ghosts thing." Red had been curious about why that happened, but knowing he could bring Larena that peace, that he could bring her any peace, stirred so much inside him.

"Yeah?" Larena smiled, more thrilled to always find out that Red was so interested in what they had together than she was curious about why the spirits did disappear when he was around…what did they have together? "So what's the verdict?"

His yellow eyes were holding hers of blue again, somewhere in the middle Red imagined they met and turned the world green. Was green romantic? He'd love to touch her, with more than his eyes. Touch her with his eyes? That didn't make any sense. Anyway, what were they talking about? "Uh, yeah, there's a hierarchy of ghosts and spirits and imps and…" he couldn't bring himself to name the last one, seemed like it would just spoil everything. "Anyway, I out rank the ghosts, so they see me coming and vamoose."

Larena laughed titteringly, but she wasn't sure why, after all, Red hadn't said anything funny. "Then," she cleared her throat for a moment, collected herself. "Then I wish you'd come see me more often, Red." When she realized what she'd uttered, she began to crease the edge of her veil nervously; how had Red understood what she'd just said? And what had she meant by it herself? "I mean, to keep the—"

He held up the granite hand, shaking his head, trying to hide his defeat again. "I know." How could she ever look at him the same way he looked at her? She was beautiful, the kind of beautiful that not even the plain white modesty of her habit could disguise. And he was ugly. She was a nun, or close enough to it, she liked him, as a friend, she saw him as a friend…ifriend, friend, friend…get over it already./i He should be happy with that, considering how their first meeting went, but he just wasn't. He couldn't be. And, ioh yeah,/i there was that whole witch thing, too, but he thought less and less about that each time he saw her. Besides, the nun thing had to in some way cancel out the witch thing, right?

Something seemed less bright in his amber eyes a second before he looked down into the grass and away from her. Larena felt her heart start to break, what had she done, and what was the right thing to do now? "Red," she grabbed his granite hand with both of hers. "I didn't mean…I mean, I meant that…"

His head snapped up. "You meant what?" He tried to sound plainly curious, not hopeful, not desperate, but he was all of those things.

Larena's head was spinning. "I don't know anymore," she sighed, hoping he'd believe she was lost, for she was lost, but not in the realm of words. "I just," well, she had to say it, it was the nice thing to say, and she did mean it. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, I didn't intend to."

Fine, if she could play "lost" so could he. "How would you have done that?" Red feigned his best baffled expression, wondering if this would net him anything that might hit the right spot…whatever that right spot was.

His question surprised her, this would never end at this rate, the two of them would just keep on stammering along, saying nothing and using a lot of words to do so…or saying everything, everything she'd felt growing inside her, that excited her, gave her joy and also made her doubt her sanity…he wasn't even human, he had a tail, he wasn't even of her species, and yet she found him attractive, found herself wanting to love him…wasn't that too weird? No, she didn't want to think about it, she couldn't handle it. What they had was what they had, and it would never be anything more than that, it couldn't be. Larena felt her fingers and hands start to tremble and she thrust them into the pockets of her habit, happily finding a distraction and new conversation nudging against her right hand. Her smile returned, bright and confident. "Oh, I brought you something!"

"You did?" He was surprised, but didn't know why. She'd given him a few things over the time they'd known each other. He still wore the tiny pouch of herbs she'd made up for him on the rosary around his left wrist, a spell of protection, like the one Larena wore hidden beneath her habit. But it went beyond just a bag of dried leaves and petals. He often came to her fresh from battle in the field, a swelling bruise here, a cut or gash there, a broken bone still repairing itself as he snaked his way silently through St. Rita's to her cell. Red hadn't counted how many times she'd seen to his wounds, but he remembered all of them in great detail. His physiology was not like a human's, his immune system was stellar, his rate of healing far surpassing that of any other living thing, the last favor he required from her was medical attention, but he liked what her worry over him meant…or could mean. If nothing else, at least she had to touch him to clean a wound with her sage tea, and to apply one of the poulstices she made from comfrey leaves. He even enjoyed it when she put a band-aid on his thick fingers, despite how ridiculous Red thought band-aids were…iflesh colored….of course they were./i Too bad he didn't have some scratch for her to see to now! Well, maybe tonight, then. For now, he'd just have to settle for what she'd brought him. "What is it?"

Carefully Larena worked the object's awkward shape from her pocket, hoping it would please him, since she hadn't been able to, and likely never would be able to. Now she was feeling depressed. Oh, enough, she was going to be a nun, and he had a tail after all. "This has been missing from our collection of relics for a few decades from what I'm told," she said, gently turning the object right side up for Red to see. "It's Sister Athelstane's left shoe, she founded St. Rita's over two hundred and fifty years ago, and she's been interred in our catacombs…without her shoe. It was lost in the 1920's when her body was moved due to a storm that flooded her original gravesite." Red held his hand out and she placed the worn and shriveled leather and wood sole into his palm. How much smaller it looked in his hand. "I was setting some potted lilies outside the garden shed, and there it was, wedged between a rock and the wall. I thought you could use it." She smiled at how Red studied the shoe with intense interest. Perhaps she'd been able to erase hurting him earlier?

"Thank you," Red answered as he turned the shoe at every angle, examining the whole of it and weighing it in his hand, then looked up at her and smirked. "But it's the wrong size."

Larena's lips pursed in disappointment at first, but then she laughed. "Red!" She shoved him lightly in the shoulder. "I know it's not from a saint or anything, but will it help you in your work?" She hoped it would, she never wanted any harm to come to him, and if she could prevent it from doing so, she would.

Red was astonished that she would turn such an item over to him, rather than give it to the Prioress of St. Rita's, doing so would have put her in the good graces of the convent, and perhaps allowed her to be a bit happier there than he knew she was. But no, she'd given it to him. She'd given it to him! All of a sudden the only detail Red knew about the shoe was that the leather was still warm from Larena's body and he imagined that he could draw that warmth in through his red skin and have it wrap around him; it was like being in her arms. "Yeah," he smiled, the thought of lying back in her embrace so pungent in his mind he was half afraid she knew what he was thinking. "I can do something with this."

"Good!" She sounded more overjoyed than perhaps she should have, cleared her throat again. "I mean, all we'd do with it here is return it to the catacombs, or maybe put it on display. What kind of sense does that make when it could be doing real good in the world?" Oh no, she'd just become impersonal again, that's what hurt him the last time! "And you, I mean, it's your life on the line out there and I know it, and you deserve all the thanks we can give you, whether we know it or not…and it's a shame that more of us don't know it, because where would we all be if—"

"Sister," Red smirked again, he knew what she was trying to do this time, but now she was overdoing it. He wouldn't complain though, it felt good that she was making such an effort, it was just time to stop her, for sake of her looking foolish. "I know," he said, but this time he was smiling, his eyes happening to catch hers directly, yellow to blue, the world becoming green.

His eyes did something to her, they always had, from the first time he looked at her it was like he was fixating on something inside her deeper than even she knew. She'd feared demonic possession upon that premiere meeting, for his stare was so unbreakable. Now though, it seemed like it didn't happen near enough. "Red," her voice was merely above a whisper, and she wasn't sure why she'd said his name, but his left hand rose to her cheek, his fingers sliding slowly beneath her wimple, finding a lock of her red hair and pulling it free over her ear. Her eyes fluttered closed as his fingers stroked down the soft tresses in his hand.

He'd never experienced anything like this with a woman, but Red knew willingness when he saw it appear on Larena's face. Anything he was to ask her for now, she'd give him. Beyond his own control and judgment, he felt himself leaning over towards her, his left hand taking her gently under the chin and tilting her face up towards his own. She didn't move, soft and supple under his command, the repose of her hooded eyes belying the quivers he could feel beneath her skin, or were they beneath his own? She breathed shallowly, letting him draw her closer, and closer, he could taste her sugared breath against his own lips, his own eyes falling closed. There were but millimeters between his lips and hers, an agonizing heat burning between them, pleading to be smothered with a—What was he doing? He jerked his head back from hers, yellow eyes opening wide. "Sister,"

His voice awakened her from whatever it was that had blanketed them both and Larena's body jolted as she pulled away from him, for some reason gasping for breath now like she'd been running for her life. Had they almost—no, of course not, such things weren't possible between them…were they? Either way, she should have stopped it, stopped him, stopped herself. "I'm sorry," she stammered, her hand unconsciously rubbing at her mouth as though it were dirty. "I'm sorry, I don't know what—"

"No," Red shook his head, a bit less ruffled than she was, but rose unsteadily to his towering height. "Hey, I should be getting back to the bureau," iyeah, just play it off, it never happened…at least, it never should have./i "They still think I'm asleep, and it'll look that way as long as I'm there for breakfast." Was he really leaving? He should be of course, but was he actually leaving?

Larena stood as well, straightening her habit and brushing away imaginary dirt to hide the trembling of her hands. She nodded her head. "I wouldn't want you getting into trouble because of me." The words left her mouth and her face reddened. Oh no, that had sounded very presumptuous…and honest. "I mean—"

Red laughed. "I know what you mean, stop saying that already." Could he not sense how much she needed him to be okay with what almost happened, how much she needed him to be strong, he would have been surprised by how relaxed he was. She'd smiled at his remark, but was still fighting to find her way back to normal. Maybe this would help? "Ahh," he shrugged, "it woulda never worked, you and me," he said, catching her attention, her eyes like saucers to hear him acknowledge what had so nearly happened, but she listened, caught in the same restless state of relief and sorrow that he was as he said it would "never work." iWhat if it would, though? No, say what he had meant to say, finish the sentence, leave her with a smile on her face./i "You're a nice girl and all, but no horns, no tail?" He shook his head, grinning at her. "C'mon!"

Of all the things building within her, the last thing she expected herself to do was laugh, but she did, so much so that Larena had to clamp her own hand over her mouth this time. "Red!" She snipped between her laughs and fingers. She'd at first not appreciated his handling of this, but now, as she laughed she found she felt so much better about it. It was okay, he wasn't hurt or disappointed. She regained her poise finally and lowered her hand from her mouth, reaching forward and taking his left hand. "Thank you." She smiled.

"Yeah," he smiled back, folding his fingers around her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Don't mention it." Making a joke may have pierced the uncomfortable atmosphere, but her touch still made his body tingle. Best to get going or this would start all over again. He turned to leave. "Tell the ghosts I said to keep it down, okay?"

She nodded, smiling still until his fingers slipped from hers and his back was to her, when a new fear gripped her. What if things had now become too involved and he'd not chance seeing her again? "Red!"

He halted his strides, looked over his massive shoulder. "Yeah?" iDon't ask him to stay, it was so hard to walk away./i

"I'll see you later this evening, right? After Vespers?" She wrung her hands, anticipating his answer.

Red smiled subtly, trying to hide it from her as he turned all the way around to face her. "Is that what you want?" He wouldn't force himself on her, he'd leave it all up to her from this point forward.

Larena's lungs felt so heavily void of air. "Yes," she breathed in an almost hoarse voice. "It is."


	3. The Quickening

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

For some reason Larena still expected to have sunlight shine across her face when she awoke each morning, even though there were no windows here deep within the recesses of the BPRD which housed Red's dorm. Yet every morning she was certain something bright shined down on her face, only to open her eyes to the dusky twilight of rope lighting along the juncture of wall and ceiling which was timed to come on as soon as the sun rose, signaling morning. Maybe it was the baby that gave her the sensation of sunlight on her face? She'd only been carrying this child for what she estimated to be perhaps five weeks, and as Red had been her first lover, she'd never been pregnant before, but Larena could tell that this gestation, this baby, was different from all others, for reasons besides the obvious.

She'd noticed first that like its father, the child inside her repelled the spirits that otherwise imposed upon her. Likewise, the baby was warm inside her, radiating the same type of comforting heat that Red's big body did. iRed's big body/i…Larena wondered how else this baby may take after its father, and what that would mean for the actual birth…iC-Section?/i Of course, before any of that happened, she and Red had to announce that there was going to be a new arrival, and that she'd been here, secretly living with Red in his dorm for over a month, and that they were…well, they'd never actually acknowledged their relationship with any monikers…was HB her boyfriend? Did Red want to be called such? He was hardly a "boy" after all; he was so much more than a boy, or a man.

Boyfriend, lover, beau, baby-daddy, whatever Red wanted to be known as, when were they going to finally look everyone in the eyes and make this known? She and Red had been seriously discussing this for over two weeks now, he'd told her all about his father and Larena looked forward to finally meeting the professor and sharing the news about his grandchild to come. She could see Red's eyes light up at that thought as well, but at the same time something made him so very hesitant to do so. What was it that always held him back? Red would never admit to her what it was that made him so uncomfortable and so she'd been forced to guess.

Larena understood why he was nervous about making this public, she was nervous too. Telling his father was difficult enough in its self, but telling friends, co-workers, people Red respected and who respected him was very different. And on her end, Larena worried because she knew no one here besides Red. Professor Bruttenholm sounded like a wonderful man, but how would everyone else react to news that she'd been living here, in a secret government complex, for as long as she had, and that she and Red were in love? Who was she to everyone here, after all? Would they be suspicious of her? Would they doubt or simply not understand what she felt for Red and what he felt for her? And what about this baby? Would they be happy, or would they be fearful? Red had assured her that she'd be welcomed by his father, said that the old man would be happy to know that his son had found someone like her. And in general Red also seemed to think that her life long hindrance of being a medium could actually find her a niche here in the BPRD itself. Red had no worries about introducing her, or for that matter introducing them as a couple to everyone, but whenever she asked about the baby, he became so distant. It troubled her.

It made more sense to tell his father first; that should be a little easier to do than telling everyone else, right? Well, maybe it wasn't? Professor Bruttenholm likely saw his son as being too juvenile still for fatherhood, what with all the comic books, cartoons, junk food and curfew breaking he was into. Even one look around at the state of Red's room gave more of an impression of iteenage angst/i than it did iresponsible adult./i Red and his "organizational system"…if he needed something he "knew it was somewhere on the floor…" well, maybe not any longer, as Larena had begun to pick up a bit when Red wasn't around, and it always seemed she found yet another cat each time she moved something. Not that she minded the cats, she loved them as much as Red did, and she loved even more watching Red with all the fuzzy little beasties. Seeing him gently cradle a tiny, little, purring cat in his huge arms, cooing to it and softly kissing its fuzzy little head gave Larena all the assurance she needed as to Red's fitness in becoming a father. He'd do fine, she knew he would. She only had to figure out how to convince him of that, and then hopefully he'd feel more secure making this inevitable announcement, right?

He would do fine; Larena smiled as she turned her head over her shoulder and looked at Red, still asleep, every thick muscle relaxed, but his stone hand still holding her firmly and contentedly against him, her back to his broad red chest. He was the model of tranquility and peace, all his brute strength well masked behind the soft features of slumber, and the inner gentleness, that sometimes embarrassed him to display, overwhelming what any outsider would likely describe as "demonic." Larena shook her head at the thought and softly stroked her fingers over the stone forearm on her hip, the touch reaching through Red's sleep, making him moan softly and snuggle against her even more than he had been, but he didn't wake.

Larena however knew she should rise, get her shower, brush her teeth, be done in the bathroom before she woke Red so he'd have no excuses for being late to that Team Meeting Manning had scheduled for 0800 hours. If there were two things she knew Red hated, it was mornings and any kind of meetings, particularly when they were scheduled by Manning and dealt with things like new protocols for report writing and changes to the promotional criteria. But, if she were going to teach Red that he could be responsible, because fathers were responsible after all, then she had to deal with his griping and complaining about being up so early. But if it worked, if Red could see he was acting like a responsible father-to-be, then maybe he'd feel more like one, and telling his own father and the rest of the BPRD about the baby wouldn't be so scary anymore, right? She had to try.

Carefully she slid from his grasp, which only tightened as she eased her way from beneath his heavy limb, but Larena managed to get to her feet before Red pulled her back against him again, still asleep, but a muffled groan of protest escaping him until she leaned over and settled him with a soft kiss to his forehead. She began to stride forward, noticing immediately that her weight was unbalanced, her step inhibited as if her feet were having difficulty centering beneath her and she felt as though she had to waddle instead of walk. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and the reason was discovered clamped tightly in Red's thick stone fingers. The hem of the black T-shirt she'd borrowed from him as a nightgown, somehow without being conscious, he'd managed to snag it and hold tightly before she'd straightened, a last ditch effort to keep her close to him that had nearly succeeded.

"You don't give up easily, do you?" She smiled, murmuring to herself as she plucked the material from his fist. She'd begun to notice that Red had some uncanny gift for finding where she was all the time. He'd said something inside him had drawn him to her the night they met, and now it had strengthened to an ability to know and feel where she was at all times. Larena resisted believing him about such a thing, but she had to admit that she was never far from his reach if he didn't want her to be. Even in his sleep he managed to be possessive, protective and jealous, but Larena only smiled; it felt good to have such a connection with and mean so much to someone who meant just as much to her.

Finally free of his grasp though, she took a step forward, willing her legs and hips to straighten out the way they should, crossing the threshold into the bathroom, stepping over a towel and a washcloth. She might as well wait to clean them up, there'd only be more on the floor once Red woke and went through his morning routine…no doubt cranky and bellowing about morning, meetings and of course Manning the whole time, but Larena was braced for that. What she didn't seem to be braced for was walking, what was going on with her hips this morning? It wasn't odd for she and Red to become so lost in how much they desired each other that they got a little rough, and given his strength and overall size, sometimes it showed in her walk for a bit the next morning, but this was different. She felt heavier, but she knew she wasn't, at least, she couldn't be that much heavier it made her legs so suddenly unaccustomed to her weight, it didn't make sense until…

"Lar?" Red woke in a flash, Larena's scream going through him like a bolt of lightening. The first of his waking thoughts were informative, she was about nine feet away, to his left, around a slight corner. He didn't remember getting out of bed or moving at all, he was just suddenly there, Larena held within his powerful arms, looking into the bathroom mirror with her. She was shaking, but he felt no obvious injury, what was wrong? Why had she screamed?

And then he saw it, staring back at both of them in her reflection, the baby! But only in a manner of speaking, Larena's belly had been flat when they'd gone to sleep the night before. He hadn't noticed any bulge there at all when he'd been above her, and their bodies had been pressed so close together that he'd have for sure felt any lumps or bumps. But now her belly protruded far away from her body, rounded out in front of her like a beach ball as though the child might come within a few days at the very most! Red stared with wide yellow eyes, words failing him despite how badly he wanted to reassure Larena. How had that happened? What was going on?

"Is this—" her own stammering cut her off and she sucked in a ragged breath as she turned to face Red. "Is this normal? I mean, if I'm freaking out over something that to you is perfectly okay, now's the time to tell me!"

The way she was shaking made him instinctively pull her against him closer, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. He wished he had an answer that would make her feel more secure. "I don't know," he closed his eyes and pulled her closer still, trying to compensate for the lack of emotional and mental shelter he could provide her with a display of his physical strength. Her body felt so different tucked against his now, her child swelled abdomen keeping them apart and yet making them feel so much closer than they ever had been at the same time. A mix of dread and joy battled inside him, but concerned perplexity held most of him. He hadn't been ready for this, not so soon. And he had no answers for Larena, and when she needed them the most. What were they going to do now?

"Red," Larena's voice hitched suddenly and she hunched forward with an abrupt jerk, leaning against him more than before, almost in tears.

Red had never felt so inadequate. "Lar, babe, I'll find out, I promise you that!" His words were rushed, wanting so desperately to be able to do something, to be able to tell her something that was what she wanted to hear, but he wasn't entirely sure what that was. Abe, he needed Abe! Oh, but this was going to be a spectacle of a conversation! Red drew a deep breath, trying to settle himself. After all, how could he calm Larena down if he weren't calm himself? "We don't know anything yet, so just don't be scared until we know something scary, okay?"

Larena's head was shaking, her breathing heavy, fingernails of the hand that was against his chest beginning to dig into his skin and she groaned deeply, eyes squeezed shut with the agony that overcame her. "It's not that," she managed to say through pain clenched teeth. "I think I'm in labor!"

Red felt himself swoon for the first time that a hard blow to the head didn't precede it. What a morning. "Oh crap!"


	4. Hot Water

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

"Gentleman, I regret that the team meeting originally scheduled for this morning concerning the writing and submissions of reports and amendments to promotional standards will have to be rescheduled for another time." Manning ignored the groans of sarcastic disappointment from the agents still filing into the conference room and taking a seat at the large table. "We've been monitoring some recent activity that continues to intensify on Tarmagant Island, which has yet to meet full fledged threat levels, but bears some immediate observation and discussion." He turned his back on the group, pressing a button on a projector, a map of Scotland suddenly illuminating the large white wall, Tarmagant Island appearing larger and larger off the coast as Manning zoomed in. "I'm sure you all know the significance of Tarmagant Island," he turned towards the seated agents, his eyes ready to focus on one in particular, then he frowned. "Wait a minute, where is Hellboy?"

Myers met Manning's stare with apprehension in his features and quickly shook his head, shifting his weight to stand and go find his big, red charge when the large table the group was seated at began to shake, and then heavy footsteps came thundering rapidly down the corridor. Everyone in the conference room immediately looked towards the door, which was yanked open, one of the metal hinges popping out of the glass of the door and metal of the frame with a loud crack and crash.

"Blue!" Red was shirtless, a light sweat clung to his red skin, his eyes fettered to Abe and only on Abe as though no one else was present in the room. He was out of breath, his left hand shook a bit when he raised it to point at him.

"Red?" Abe's hand bent towards his own chest in a comprehending but confused gesture, his head cocked to the side as he tried to reach deeper into what was going on with Red, but he could only tell what everyone in the room was able to gather, something was amiss. "What—"

"I'm begging you, don't make me say it," Red cut him off, his amber eyes ablaze with something that only made everyone else stare more. "I need you, buddy! More than I ever needed you before!"

"Red," Myers had to clear his throat for a moment, he was instinctively nervous about this, he'd known Red long enough now that he could tell this wasn't good in some way that was yet to be learned and could never be guessed. Plus, he was actually eager to help if he could; he'd been trying for a long time now to mend fences with Red. "Do you need me, too?"

Red's head jerked towards him, his glower mixed with general annoyance that Myers had bothered to insert himself into this particular moment. "No, definitely not you, Myers!"

Abe shook his head, when would this one sided feud Red put up between he and Myers end? He focused on Red, but the demon's thoughts were racing far too much and he was trembling so on the inside that Abe couldn't read very much in him. But something was certainly wrong, that was clear, and the situation must have been dire if Red was in such a state. "Let's go then!" Abe stood and immediately raced out the door and down the corridor with Red, leaving the meeting and fellow agents to look at one another for answers, a few echoes of their stunned laughter lingering as the broken glass door slammed shut on their meeting.

Manning sighed, there was little he could do at this point to stop either Abe or Hellboy, and he knew it, he was hardly a physical match for either of them. "Well," he said addressing the remaining agents. "I never realized they were like ithat/i!" He smiled somewhat smugly when more laughter came, but then focused on Myers again. "You, go see what's going on, and don't let it get out of hand."

Myers walked towards the door, pulling it open again. "Too often that's easier said than done." He muttered, and ran after Abe and Red, his gut telling him that the developing situation on Tarmagant was somehow tied to whatever Red's latest crisis was. What had the big, red monkey gotten into now?

center* * * * * */center

If Abe could have blinked, he'd have stood there doing so incessantly. Never had he figured this sort of emergency awaited him within Red's room. That one of the cats was injured or sick was always possible, or that one of the pixies, small yet annoying and highly strung, had hidden inside a pocket and followed Red back from their last mission and was now reeking a havoc Red wanted to keep quiet was another feasible issue, but this? Abe was so startled at the sight of a pregnant woman, breathing heavily and agitatedly seated on the edge of Red's bed, obviously held so tightly within the clench of labor pains that she seemed to take no notice of how different Abe looked from her or any other humans. When he'd entered, she'd looked at him with no shock, no horror or even curiosity in her face. She just wanted help, was desperate for it, as desperate as Red was, both of them looking at him imploringly as the young redhead panted and moaned with another contraction. Had Abe ever entertained he'd be called to such an emergency within Red's quarters he would have expected that Liz would be the big bellied, belabored woman sitting on Red's bed, not this stranger. Where had she come from, and who was she? How had she gotten here, in this condition?

Red dropped to one knee beside the woman, trying to take her in his arms, but she was far too fitful, almost pushing him away as she rocked back and forth with the pain she was in. HB leaned closer, took her by the shoulders, trying to give her some kind of comfort as he whispered again and again that "it'll be okay." The contraction slowly let up, the girl lifted her head and stared at Red, a gentle smile emerging as she ran her fingertips over his cheek, wanting to believe him. Her eyes held Red's and his hers, nothing was said, they just leaned forward until their foreheads touched. The emotions settled enough in that moment for Abe to delve deeper, the fear and the anxiety still brimming in both Red and the girl, but something else was now far more prominent in both of them. Love.

The picture unfolded for Abe; the bond between Red and this girl was still new, but no less strong. The baby had been quite a shock to both of them, but in an exceptional way that Abe still struggled to comprehend. But, they were happy, Red and this girl, each of them something the other had been long since searched for. Abe may have always pictured Liz to be the one playing the part of the expectant mother in this scenario, but there was no denying how much more complete the bond between Red and this girl felt than any bond between Red and Liz ever was. Why hadn't Red told him about this? Furthermore, why couldn't he read it in Red?

The sudden shock of knowing this made Abe jolt physically, and he wondered what exactly Red wished him to do. Deliver this well venerated stranger's baby here in his room and then keep this whole episode a secret? Surely Red didn't think this could be hidden, did he? Was he planning on raising a child here in his room? A child…Red was going to be a father. That thought alone suddenly overwhelmed Abe, leaving him at a loss for thought and words, but this situation called for him to do more than stand there gaping the way he was. Something should be said at least.

"How did this happen?"

Red turned to Abe with a look of genuine exasperation on his face as he did his best to cuddle the mother-to-be. "If you can't figure that out then maybe you can't help us!"

If his blue skin could blush, it would have. What a stupid question. "I'm sorry," he stepped closer to the couple, still stunned and even more eager to know the whole story; how had they met? When had they met? What was she like? She was looking into Red's eyes, her arms around his thick neck, calmed by the contact with his big, red body, her mind completely open . It was prying, Abe knew that, he'd always held himself to higher standards, but given the situation, he couldn't help it. "Larena Balfour, you were going to be a nun!"

Her head jerked towards him sharply, her breathing still ragged, her bangs sticking to her sweaty forehead, but in that instant she forgot about being in labor. "How did you know that?"

"Well, I…" Now Abe was embarrassed, he never should have read her without asking her permission first, but before he could even explain, or apologize, something protective and angry barged it's way through from the girl, blocking him from looking any deeper than he already had, something that almost felt like…

"Hey!" Red's voice was demanding as he pulled Larena closer to him. "Save the Miss Cleo thing for later! We're having a kid over here, you know how to do this or not?"

Abe cocked his head in thought, "I've never been called upon for such a task before, Red." He was pensive, but nonetheless he did want to help, it was overpowering how badly both Red and Larena hoped he could and would do something. "We need to get her to the lab, there's more I can do there than here, and it's also…" Abe couldn't avoid looking around at the piles of dirty clothes, candy bar wrappers and cigar butts that were scattered everywhere. "…sterile there."

Red nodded, getting to his feet and taking both of Larena's hands as she looked questioningly up at him. "Lab?" She asked, for a moment the strangeness of it all seeping in, and she looked over at Abe again as if or the first time noticing his blue skin and fins and wide, black, perpetually open eyes. She wasn't afraid, the very tone of his voice was soothing and she could tell at once that whatever he was, he was a gentle and well meaning individual, but still she wondered, what exactly was he? And how did he know her name, and that she'd nearly become a nun?

Again Red nodded as he slipped his right arm gently around her lower back, helping her to stand. "Yeah, but don't be scared, okay?" He looked over at Abe for a moment, then back at her, this time with a smile. He knew not where things would go from here, or what the next few hours would even hold for the fate of the world, but there was no stopping this now. All he could do was be there for Larena, and their child, in whatever way he could be. "Remember when I told you I asked a friend about why the ghosts disappeared whenever I came around?" Larena nodded and Red looked at Abe again, who was now beginning to add that clue into what he'd recently come to learn, his head nodding again as things began to make even more sense. "That's the guy who had all the answers. There's no one I trust more with this than him, okay, babe? It'll be alright." iHe hoped./i

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"Professor Broom!" The old man heard agent Myers yelling frantically even before the large golden doors of the study opened to reveal his ashen face. True, the developments on Tarmagant Island were disconcerting; they were rather reminiscent of events that took place prior to the appearance of an infant red demon Bruttenholm now loved as a son. But, no one was quite certain as to what the goings on off the coast of Scotland meant yet, and so he doubted Tarmagant was the catalyst behind the type of panic evident on John Myer's face and in his quivering voice. It must have been something else. Bruttenholm only hoped that his son hadn't done something to yet again mark what had the foundation of being a permanent grudge against Myers. He'd spoken to Hellboy about curbing that temper of his on many occasions, and the conversation was getting quite tedious. However, it wasn't his place to assume anything. The Professor calmly closed the ancient text he'd been poring over and looked up at the young FBI man, regretting that the silence of the morning had been shattered by something other than the light hearted vocals of Marion Hutton.

"Professor Broom!" Myers said again as he came to stand in front of the Professor's desk, trying to catch his breath, but still trembling with the revelation that coursed through him. "Hellboy…" he gasped again, "Abe…in the lab," he felt almost light headed saying it out loud. "Having a baby!"

The old man's brow furrowed and he drew back from Myers in great bewilderment and consternation. That made no sense whatsoever and wasn't even possible to begin with. "Agent Myers?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Myers fought to settle himself down, feeling foolish for what he'd blurted out. "But," he swallowed beginning to feel uncertain as to whether or not he should even tell Bruttenholm about this. This was more Red's place to do so. At least from the looks of things, it was Red's place to do so; it had been HB with that girl in his arms, carrying her to the Lab, and his big red hand softly patting her pregnant belly as Abe began to lay out varying pieces of medical equipment. "They don't know I know, I followed them from Red's room to the lab, and…" now it was as if the words wouldn't even come out. Probably for the best, Red was still beyond angry with him over that iother/i situation, even though it had been more than a year now. If he ever hoped to have Red's trust again, perhaps he'd better refrain from spilling all the beans. "Professor Broom," Myers said again, this time in a much more collected fashion, placing his hands on the old man's large desk. "Please, go down to the lab. Your son needs you, whether he knows it or not."


	5. Fathers and Sons

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

Larena's sweaty head fell back against Red's strong shoulder as she gasped for breath, yet another contraction subsiding again, even the smallest reduction in the pain was one of the greatest sensations she'd ever felt. Red leaned against the hospital bed she lay in, his left arm cradling her, both of her hands wrapped around the indestructibleness of his granite fingers at her chest, squeezing tighter and tighter when the pain would reach its threshold. But as the ache in her muscles released she let go again, turning to look at Red, who watched her with so many emotions flickering in his yellow eyes, all behind a thin veil of apprehension. She hadn't had very much time to wonder about what he'd be like when this moment came, whether he'd be more fearfully and comically nervous, or whether he'd be stalwart and positive, a sense of pride carrying him through the whole process of waiting for his child to finally make its entrance into the world. She smiled as she watched him watching her, as if he had some checklist stashed in his pocket and was going to whip it out at any moment and go down the list of i"Symptoms of eminent childbirth—You know it's close when..."/i He gazed at her so protectively, focused on being so strong for her, like he expected her to fall apart and was ready to put her back together again…just before he fell apart himself. Larena couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"What is it?" Red jumped as if startled, clutching her hand in his stone fist so suddenly and hard he could feel Larena wince…istupid rock hand/i…he let go again, but couldn't relax.

"Red," she laughed again, discreetly rubbing her mashed fingers. "You're so alert to everything that you're almost a million miles away from it. Are you okay?"

"Me?" He tried to play coy, his expression almost arrogant, but when Larena cocked her head and jutted her chin out at him a bit, locking eyes with him demandingly he gave up. "This is just," he sighed, trying to choose his words as carefully as he could, not wanting to make her think or feel anything that might upset her. She was still happy about this and he'd given her no reasons to be otherwise. "It's all happening a lot faster than I thought it would. I'm hoping I'm ready for it, that's all." Without meaning to, his eyes shifted downwards, too ashamed to look at her while he said that. He waited for her to panic or cry or be angry.

But she laughed, startling him again. "Red," Larena put her hand over his, interlacing her soft fingers with his granite ones. "I know how you feel, because that's how I feel too."

"You do?" The surprise in his voice embarrassed him, but the words had sprung out of his mouth before he could temper the emotion behind them. "But you're so—"

"I'm what, Red?" Larena asked with a smile, but it was a bit forced this time, the trepidation shining through in her voice. "We've been together less than two months, we've been living together in secrecy, I haven't met your family or friends, I don't know if I can even call you my 'boyfriend,' I went to bed last night somewhere in my first trimester, and now I'm as big as a house and in labor…" she sighed heavily, her head falling back against Red's shoulder again. She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds until the silence between she and HB became unbearable and she turned her head towards him again. "All of this and we haven't even had a first date yet!"

At that they both laughed, some of the tension released; Red leaned over and kissed her softly, Larena's arm curling around his neck, inviting him closer, but just as his lips parted against hers, her body stiffened all at once, pulling away from him as she huffed with another contraction.

"Lar," the suddenness and the force of the pain that would come upon her always caught Red so off guard and left him feeling helpless. The tighter Larena's eyes squeezed shut and the more her hands balled into fists and the deeper the moans she ground out, the more he wished this all would end. "Blue," he glanced over at Abe, giving Larena his stone fingers to take out her pain on, his heart pounding. "Do something!"

Abe looked away from the chart he'd been preparing and keeping notes on, he'd settled into a calmness with this whole thing and was focused now on his patient, and patient to be. He was learning more and more as things progressed, Larena having given her consent for him to read her as the labor went along, and he was liking her more and more. Beyond only that though, Abe felt certain as to what the eventual outcome would be, and he was no longer worried, at least not yet he wasn't. "Such as?"

Red fought to keep the alarm feeding his panic and anger under control, but it was a losing battle. "I don't know, maybe like, GET IT OUT!"

"Red!" Larena gasped as the contraction began to stifle, managing to give him a scolding look in place of the words she hadn't breath to say.

"I'm afraid there's very little I, or we, can do at this stage of delivery." Abe rose elegantly to his feet, reading at once how irritated Red was at his composed demeanor, but it didn't bother him, Abe knew he was right and he knew what was best. "Babies do as they please and arrive when they're ready. We likely have two or three hours to go before this one is."

"Two or three more hours?" Red's face contorted, he felt dizzy and exhausted, but even more than that he was feeling somehow taken advantage of. Hadn't he, and Larena, been through enough already? Why couldn't this just be over with? Even if he wasn't ready for whatever would happen afterwards. He knew of course that none of it was Abe's fault, but still he turned and glared at him as though it were. "She can't last that long!"

"She can't, or you can't?" At that Abe snuck a glance at Larena and her eyes met his, the faintest of smirks on her face and Abe repressed a chuckle. Red however was about to blow, Abe knew he better do something, fast. He moved beside Larena, waving a small vitals scanner over her wrist, checking her pulse. "Larena, I can however give you something for the pain now, if you feel you need it."

Larena smiled. "I wouldn't object to that!" She said honestly, then looked at Red, smoothing her hand up his strong left forearm soothingly, knowing a reduction in her pain would help both of them. "Thank you, Abe." Her eyes were on Red's as she said it, prompting him to relax and hopefully be a bit more considerate as well.

"Yeah," He exhaled, looking back at Larena, then over at Abe. "Sorry, Blue. And thanks, I know you're doing your best." Red took Larena's hand in both of his, kissing it and then finally sat down on the stool beside her bed, feeling a little silly now. He heard Larena sigh softly and her fingertips brushed his temple, the feeling consoling, making him need to be closer to her; being close to her always made everything feel right. Red leaned down and let his head settle against her chest, her arms going around him immediately, holding him to her. Red sighed deeply, wanting so much for things to be okay, for everyone. "Maybe you should see if there's anything you could give me, too." He joked as Larena's finger massaged the tension at the back of his neck.

But just as everyone was again easing into another space between anxiety and turmoil, another presence was felt in the doorway. Red noticed it first, looking up, and immediately wishing he hadn't.

"From the looks of this, I'd say you've already ihad/i more than what is decorous."

"Father!" Red quietly groaned on a heavy sigh. There seemed to be no end in how this whole situation was getting worse.

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"Look, Pop, I…I…" Try as he might, Red was unable to sit down and be still; he paced, his hands shook with each stammering word he said, and his gaze shifted from the floor to the ceiling again and again. He'd managed to leave Larena's side, not wanting to have this inevitable conversation with his father in front of her. It had a good chance of turning ugly, and he didn't want her anymore upset than she had to be…or was already. He felt a bit guilty for not making the formal introductions between his father and Larena, she'd been so eager to meet the grandfather of their child, and then when he appeared, Red stood up, grabbed the old man by his shoulder and essentially ran out of the room with him, saying nothing more than, "how'd you find out?" iHow did he find out?/i That would have to wait for now, but Red had his suspicions, he just couldn't prove them as of yet. Well, he might as well get on with this, the sooner the yelling started; the sooner it would stop. "Pop, I already know what you're going to say."

Professor Brutteholm sat with both his hands resting on his cane, calm on the surface, but his eyebrows rose at his son's statement. "Do you?"

Whether his father's surprise was feigned or not, Red couldn't tell. "Yeah, you're disappointed."

"Am I?" Professor Bruttenholm replied in the same mystified voice, but this time there was an undercurrent of irritation evident.

The questioning responses made Red more edgy; all he could do was guess as to how upset his father was instead of being hit full force with it. It was torturous. "Well?"

"Please continue," invited Professor Bruttenholm with a casual wave of his hand, but his eyes were anything but relaxed. "Your accuracy is quite spectacular so far."

It was far too soon to be holding his ground on this, but Red felt himself welling up to do so, despite that his father hadn't leveled anything against him…yet. He finally stopped his pacing, turned to face the professor, sighed and rested his hands on his hips, making himself look at his father, it was so important that he did when he said this. "It's not the way you think it is, okay? It didn't all go down like ithat/i."

"And how did it all 'go down?'" Professor Bruttenholm stood, facing his son and trying so very hard to hide the contempt in his voice, but the sheer weight of the situation made it so very difficult. He'd never figured Hellboy for ending up in such a dilemma, at least, not with some stranger, that was. "Do you even understand what you've set in motion, my son? I fear that the magnitude of this responsibility escapes you!"

Red's shoulders slumped forward and his head began to pound. iHere it comes!/i This was what he'd been dreading. "No, father…believe me, I understand the 'motion' and the 'magnitude' even more than you do." He said it to the floor, but at least he'd said it.

"It's more than clear that you don't." Insisted the professor. "That young lady in there, a young lady no one knows—"

"I know her!" Red interjected, but his father ignored him and continued.

"She's having a baby! Your child! And yet in explaining your apparent actions with afore mentioned young lady, you stand before me with the exact same impertinent attitude as you take when it's another one of your unscheduled and unsupervised sojourns into public life that we are so frequently discussing! This is very much different from that, I can promise you! " Professor Bruttenholm sighed, how he'd managed to not yell at his son he wasn't certain, but he felt no less exhausted by this conversation already. " What am I supposed to think? Instead of telling me about this when it happened, you've chosen to hide it! And in the first place, you've somehow seen fit to go and…" the professor stammered for a word that was appropriate without being inappropriate, "…iengage/i yourself with that girl and yet you haven't even been able to make yourself forgive Agent Myers for—" again the professor stopped, perhaps it was best not to be bringing ithat/i up. "You'll forgive me if I say that this does appear to have 'gone down like ithat/i! Have you any notion at all as to how much a child demands of a parent? Of how much a parent owes to a child? And if you have, do you think it's in you?"

Red had spent weeks now doubting himself and his father's words only cemented the feeling of ineptitude he'd been trying so hard to stay out from under. He may not have always agreed with his father's judgments on things as they happened, but Red always respected where those judgments came from. His father was a good man, a wise man; why couldn't he be more like him himself? Red's broad chest rose and sank with a heavy sigh as he looked up at the professor, his lips somewhat pursed to keep the lower one from quivering. "If you don't think it's in me, why should I?"

A stricken look crossed the professor's face and all at once he realized his words had been inappropriately aimed. "My boy," his voice quavered through his tight throat as he stepped closer to his son, putting his arms around Red as much as he could and embracing him. He'd always strived to not react based solely on the shock of his sons actions; after all, his son was no ordinary man, and was prone to commit that which others were too fearful or merely too uninspired to perform. And yet, in this instant, he'd forgone his usual standard, and it had only made things worse. "You know I believe you to be capable of anything you choose to do, it's always been that way, and it always will be."

Red had for a long time thought himself too old to be held like this by his father, and he certainly was too old to let himself melt into it, but he was, without thinking about it, until he raised his head to speak, realizing at once the ridiculousness of clinging to his father like he were still a gawky child with one horn that grew longer than the other. He straightened his back and stepped away, but did keep both his hands on the professor's shoulders, hoping that the moisture he felt at the corner of his eyes was sweat. "Father," he took another deep breath. "I love her. She loves me."

Professer Bruttenholm blinked several times, something wet at the corners of his own eyes, but there was a smile forming on his lips. He thought back to what he'd found when he'd walked into the lab, his son's head nestled against the body of that young lady, and her arms softly stroking the back of his neck. It was nice to see that for once his son was not the only one in love when it came to young ladies. "What's her name?"

"Larena," Red answered, happy to see that his father was smiling; he knew the old man would welcome the news like this, but the happiness Red had just begun to revel in was short lived. "And I do love her, Pop. I did from the first time I saw her, and she'll tell you the same thing about me. That's why it made it so hard to not…be itogether/i…" Red watched a new puzzlement fracture his father's smile and he didn't want to continue, but he knew he had to. "You see, there's something else…"

Never before did any father ever wish so hard to hear that his son's new love interest was married to another man. What was simple adultery when compared to what the desperate look in Hellboy's eyes foretold about the prophecy with which the professor was far too familiar. He felt himself grow suddenly cold, the hope that had just begun to bloom, the plans he'd been mentally putting into motion for teaching his son how to be a father, all slipped screaming down into a deep dark pit. How had this come to pass? He'd made certain that his son understood, enforced again and again what it would mean if…but he loved the girl, and she loved him…did that change anything? Either way, Larena was a witch. The professor's mouth was suddenly dry. "I see."

"Professor, Red," the soothing tone of Abe's voice pierced the thick, despairing silence. "Please forgive the interruption," he added, clearing his throat as both Bruttenholm and Red turned towards him.

"Is Lar okay?" There was panic in Red's voice as he stood ready to rush into the lab.

"She is," Abe nodded, wondering how to put the rest of what he'd come to say. "But I've just seen something on the monitors that I think you need to see for yourself."


	6. It's a

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

She'd wanted this, had spent a great deal of energy trying to convince Red that it was okay, that he wasn't taking advantage of her, and most of all, that he wouldn't hurt her. She'd never guessed that any man could want something as obviously as Red did and yet be so very tentative in taking it, even though it was being more than offered to him. Larena hadn't understood why, until now. His big strong body felt magnificent above hers, so much muscle, there was nothing soft on Red, nothing; touching him was touching power. His weight pinned her down against his bed in a way that made her feel so very free in giving herself completely over to a lover.

She'd always imagined this scene in a room lit by candles and the crackle of a fireplace, just light enough to see and just dark enough to satisfy her shyness. She'd be laying back in a canopy bed, upon a snowy white Battenburg Lace coverlet, looking into the eyes of the man who would lean over her, and make them one in a thrust of iRomance Novel/i famed pain and blood, making her his and taking her virginity. She hadn't expected her first time to be the most pleasurable, she was ready to feel uncomfortable as something foreign entered her body, figured it would probably feel so much bigger than it actually was, but Larena never would have guessed that ibig/i would be so big!

"Stop me," Red whispered gently against her forehead as he kissed her, nearly begging her to say it, the throbbing in his diffidently tense muscles beginning to be outmatched by the throbbing in his long, thick cock against her thigh. "If you don't stop me…" he quivered above her with hunger for body and fear of just what menace he could be to her. "I'll keep going."

What she estimated to be eleven inches in length and easily as thick as her forearm drummed and pulsed against her smooth skin, the broad tip of it dribbling the liquid fire of his need. Larena realized her own body was shaking too, shaking with the doubt that this was even possible, but it had to be, it just had to be. She drew as deep a breath as she could, clamored to somehow center herself, looking up into Red's dilated yellow eyes, hearing him moan his shameful pleasure when she shifted beneath him, trapping the hugeness of his erection in the bend of her thigh. She'd started out wanting this, but as the lost look in her and Red's eyes deepened, Larena realized this went far beyond iwant/i, they needed this. "Red," she could barely even whisper, "don't stop!" Larena lifted her hips against his, encouraging and torturing him forward at the same time, finally feeling his broad back arch, and his left hand delve between their bodies, wrapping around his bulky organ and making her nearly shriek with the rapture of his cock parting her slick outer lips, gripped by the reality that something harder and larger than she ever imagined encountering was about to be shoved as deeply inside her as it would go. Only one thought settled her and kept her from begging Red to stop; babies, if a child could enter the world through such a channel, then ithis/i was not impossible…

…impossible? What did that word even mean anymore? It was now just passed 6:30 in the evening, she'd been labor for hours, far longer than anyone had expected, but finally there seemed to be an end to it. Babies, children, they most certainly did enter the world through a narrow channel, and it was redefining the word "impossible" in ways that Larena had never understood before.

"I'm so tired," she couldn't help crying out as she pushed, tears streaming down her face, trying her best to keep going…ias if she could just call it quits./i

Red bent over her more, tightening his hold on her. "You're fine, babe," he encouraged, brushing her sweaty, auburn bangs out of her eyes. "Just breathe, Lar."

Red had been amazing through this, he'd carried her through it all, she swore that his stable and confident voice was in her head, setting the foundation she needed to draw strength from, but now with the pain and the fatigue reaching their peaks, the lack of panic in his voice was somewhat annoying. "I am breathing!" She half growled at him, gasping for air as her body entered an involuntary spasm that clamped every muscle of her lower body tightly.

"We're close, Larena," appeased Abe, seated between her feet in the stirrups, his eyes focused forward at a place he'd normally never allow himself to look. "The head's nearly delivered, it's almost over!" He couldn't help the excitement in his voice, he'd never before been part of anything like this, and he made a note to later thank both Larena and Red for allowing him to be part of such an experience. "Push again, just like you did before!"

She was certain she couldn't, she felt like a wet rag, wanted to lay limply back in Red's arms and rest, but Red wouldn't let her surrender to the weariness, lowering his mouth down to her ear. "You can do this," he whispered. "I love you, Lar."

At that Larena's eyes sprang open and she turned her head towards him. "You've never said that to me before, Red!" There were tears in her eyes again, but it had nothing to do with the stress and the pain. "I mean, I always knew it, but you never said it!"

"Well," Red smiled a bit shyly, looking around the room at the whole situation. "I kinda figured it was time." He couldn't help smirking a bit, then when Larena smiled, he laughed, so did she.

"I love you, too!" She lifted her head and tilted her chin upwards, Red leaning down, their lips met in closed mouth kiss.

"Um," Abe's eyes shifted from where he'd been watching intently for the last few minutes. "Excuse me, but this baby would very much like to be born."

Another surge of pain actually broke Larena and Red apart, she ground out another cry and pushed with the pain, feeling like she was about to split in two, though she knew Abe would of course do isomething/i if she did. She felt the child move forward, heard Abe excitedly announce that the head was now clear as he suctioned the baby's mouth, encouraging her to push again. Larena did, was near to blacking out when finally the extremeness of the pressure that had wracked her body for the last few hours ceased, and the cries of a child filled the white room.

"It's another boy!" Abe happily announced, holding the red skinned newborn up for his parents to see, yellow eyes puckered into slits, tiny nubs of horns protruding from his forehead, tail almost coiled as he howled his emergence into the world. "Larena, Red," he stood, carrying the baby over to the exam table and grabbing yet another piece of damp gauze to clean the little one up with, "Congratulations! You're the parents of six very healthy sons!"

Red smiled, speechless, able only to press a kiss to Larena's sweaty forehead as she struggled to sit up, reaching out her tired and shaky arms. "I wanna see him!" She called elatedly, for the sixth time that day. It seemed to take forever for Abe to swaddle the newborn in a blanket and gently place him in her arms, but once he was there, Larena pulled her son against her, that same feeling bursting inside her that she'd never felt before this day. "He looks like you," she said delightedly to Red, who gazed down at his sixth born son over her shoulder. "They all look like you!" She laughed contentedly, unable to take her eyes from the baby she held.

"Yeah," Red smiled, his stone arm around Larena's shoulders, the finger of his other hand trying to gently nudge open the clamped fist of his son. "Sorry about that." He chuckled.

Larena laughed. "Don't be," she looked up at Red. "I've always thought you were ruggedly handsome."

Red felt himself blush and quickly sought to change the subject before Larena or Abe noticed his skin was becoming more red than usual. "Hey," he said to her, unable to fight the smile still on his face. "You did great, babe! Really! I woulda given up somewhere around the third one!" Red laughed, and kissed Larena again. "I love ya!" One of the other five children already secured in makeshift cradles began to cry, prompting Red to look over his broad shoulder. "And you, too!" He smiled to his fidgety son, he and Larena laughing together, for the moment all worries of doom and destruction gone from his mind, until he looked up to see his father and Manning looking on from the other side of the glass window.

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"Well, I knew something like this was going to happen some day!" Manning crossed his arms over his chest and stood looking on tensely; obviously wishing his hands were around someone's neck.

"Did you?" Asked Bruttenholm nonchalantly, also looking on at his son and six grandchildren, wishing that Manning hadn't picked now to join him. Hellboy and Larena were so obviously in love, unafraid to reach out to one another and eager to be there for one another. The professor found himself pondering if Hellboy's own witch mother and demon father had been so. He doubted it. The matter obliged much more serious thought, and it also would have been nice to have a moment or two to congratulate the new parents, and see the babies, before having to deal with Director Manning and jumping to negative conclusions. There would be plenty of time for that.

"Yes, I did!" Manning said indignantly, eyes bulging with his internalized rage. "The only thing I didn't figure was that it wouldn't be enough merely locking him up," he pointed emphatically at Hellboy through the glass. "If he's going to wander through neighborhoods at night like some…randy stray dog, then I should have had him neutered, too!"

"Director Manning," The professor turned towards him again, as calmly as he could, but tapped his cane on the floor in frustration. "Am I to understand that 'neutering' is a precaution you find acceptable to take with guests in your home as well?"

"Of course, he's a iguest/i, not a prisoner! But look at this! Look!" Manning angrily fumbled for the rolled up reports tucked into the inner pocket of his blazer, finally finding them and unrolling them for Bruttenholm to see. "It looks like Project Ragna Rok the sequel on Tarmagant Island!" His index finger tapped rapidly at the satellite photos he held in front of the professor. "The gate appears to be open again, do you see it?"

"Yes," Bruttenholm wanted to roll his eyes, or better yet, push past Manning and go in to congratulate his son and…well, the mother of his grandchildren, but of course he didn't.

"Aha!" Manning crowed as if he'd won some sort of victory. "You can't tell me that the gate being open, on Tarmagant, has nothing to do with the births of six little demons, all born six minutes apart, starting at six o'clock! That's three sixes! Not usually a good sign, now is it?"

At that the professor lifted his head in defiance. "Director Manning, you know as well as I do that '666' was meant to denote Emperor Nero, and there is no correlation between three sixes and anything genuinely demonic!"

"Then why has the number appeared here and now, given the prophecy that has been fulfilled?" Manning again held up his satellite photographs, searching out one which clearly showed a ring, standing vertically against the back drop of ruins, its center rippling like blue water. "Does it or does it not look to you as though those six…things have been sent forth through the gateway into the here and now, via the body of that girl in there?" His finger hit the glass several times a he pointed towards the young woman in the bed, but he failed to notice that something had changed on the other side of the glass. "Who is she, anyway?"

"Larena!" Red slammed the door behind him. He'd come bearing cigars for he and his father and was more than irritated to see that Manning was present. But when he'd heard him ask after Lar in such a crass manner…that the director would dare to even think anything negative or threatening towards Larena stoked a fury inside Red. "And if you have a problem with me, you come to me! But you leave her the hell alone!"

"Hellboy," the professor was quickly between his son and Manning, Hellboy having unknowingly strode up to the director and looked down at him sinisterly. "Step back, this is no time to do anything—"

"Pop, I ain't makin' any promises! He starts in like that again, you'll be cleanin' pieces of him up with a Shop-Vac!" Red stood pounding his granite fist into his other hand and glaring at Manning.

"Oh, is that a threat?" Replied an annoyed Manning, "Because you know what 'threatening a superior' would look like in your many storied personnel file?"

Red growled. "Is that all you got, Manning? Bureaucracy and paper pushing?"

"Hellboy!" Professor Bruttenholm tried again, pushing at his son's chest, but he was hardly noticed, and the director wasn't helping things. His son had always been the overprotective type when it came to things he loved, but the way he was behaving was a bit alarming.

Manning laughed smugly. "It's all about where those papers get pushed, now isn't it?"

Red's yellow eyes narrowed and he growled again, sounding so very beast-like, moving in on Manning so closely that the Professor was squeezed out from in between them. His gigantic right hand curled into a tight fist and began to rise. "Don't talk about my family!" Red's voice was dangerously low, his teeth gritted as he talked; his right hand slung forward with an angry grunt, glancing Manning across the chest and shoulder, knocking him back a good three feet before he fell and slid all the way against the opposite wall, laying there dizzily and Red and Professor Bruttenholm looked on.

"Well," Sighed Bruttenholm, looking from Manning to his son.

"He'll be alright, Pop," Red shrugged, the vexation lightening as he watched the way Manning struggled to focus on one object at a time. "I just scattered his chickens a little, that's all."

"Hellboy," Bruttenholm still sighed. "You're a father now, you had best begin thinking of the kind of example you'll be setting!"

"What?" Red answered in disbelief. Why was his father not on his side? Hadn't he heard what Manning had said? "He deserved it! Didn't he deserve it? Doesn't he always deserve it?"

"It wasn't necessary," Replied Bruttenholm as he turned towards the door that lead to Larena and the babies. "Because we don't even know if this fits all the parameters of that prophecy yet!"


	7. Scrying

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

There was a girl, not too much older than Larena herself, dark brown hair parted down the middle and pulled back into the tight roll of a bun at the back of her head. She knelt over some type of water trough, the water black and roiling, reflecting the candles that flickered in the darkness surrounding her. The full sleeves of her polished cotton dress were as rolled up as she could get them, the corset beneath the narrow waistline of the garment forcing her body straight even as she leaned over the murky water, chanting again and again.

i"Lord Satan, by my faith, grant me the power to envisage in my mind and to execute with my body that which I desire to attain by thy benefit. O Mighty Satan, who livest and reignest forever and ever, I entreat thee to inspire the Prince of Sheol to manifest, that he may give me true and faithful answer, and conceive in me a son who will be ever powerful, that I may fulfill my desire as adored vessel of obliteration and mistress of this world. This I respectfully and humbly ask of you Lord Satan, may you deem me worthy."/i

There was an image appearing in the black water, the wind kicking up, blowing around the girl so fiercely it ripped her dark brown hair from the bun that contained it, the earth beginning to shift and the ground to crack, all the while there was a groan of something awakened and set to come forth…

i"Mine!"/i the voice was a hoarse, domineering whisper, removed from the scene Larena was seeing, but its speaker was vaguely familiar to her. i"Mine! I won't let you go!"/i She felt pressure on her forearm, two hands holding onto her, one of flesh and the other of…

"Red?" The images, the voice, both were suddenly gone. Larena opened her eyes, quickly closing them again when the bright lights of the lab pierced her vision with a severity she hadn't expected.

"Lar!" He leaned over her excitedly, quickly looking over his broad shoulder for a moment. "Hey, she's awake!"

She heard the frantic footsteps coming towards her, opening her eyes again to now see Red staring back at her where she lay in the hospital bed, Abe and Professor Bruttenholm quickly by her side.

"You really scared me, babe." Red sighed, stroking her hair; the relief in his voice and on his face was somewhat startling. "Don't ever do it again!" He added with a faint smile, moved forward to kiss her forehead but Abe's hand suddenly separated them as he waved a vitals scanner above her.

"What happened?" Larena was almost afraid to ask. She felt like she'd just been waking from a fitful sleep, but she didn't remember falling asleep. And Red, she knew worry on his face when she saw it, it was such a contrast to the foreboding, confident, smart-alec expression he usually wore; something had happened, something was wrong. The dream she'd been having had left her with some dark sense of premonition that she couldn't place and couldn't shake. Spirits sometimes did communicate with her in her dreams, what did this one mean? Who was that dark haired girl, and who was the Prince of Sheol? The most absurd thought suddenly consumed her, but she couldn't name where it had come from as this new, unfounded horror drenched her. Something was being summoned; where were her children? Larena tried to scramble to her feet, barely managing to sit up instead. "The babies!"

"Please, don't move about so soon," Professor Bruttenholm said as Abe and Red both caught her shoulders and pushed her gently back against the bed. Panic was growing within her, but the calm, kind smile on the face of the professor made it a bit easier to relax. "The children are fine. It's you, my dear, who wins our concern."

Larena sighed; confirmation that her children were safe made it easier to ignore this premonition. She smiled a ithank you/i at Red's father, wishing she could say more and that things weren't so odd and confusing. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to the man at all yet, knew him only through what Red had told her about him, but the professor's warm smile cemented all the good things Red had said of him. And it further relaxed her to think that it had been the professor who first told her the children were safe; he was surely surprised by these turn of events, but he didn't seem to begrudge them. Larena took another deep breath, settling down more and more, her children were safe, that's all she'd needed to hear. But of course, how could they not be safe? Red was their father, and she knew he'd literally fight like hell to protect them, from anyone and anything. But what had happened? What had she done to alarm everyone so? "Me? But, I'm okay, aren't I?"

"Is she?" Red asked eagerly, looking at Abe.

"She's certainly improved," Abe's face was as expressionless as ever, but his voice rose cheerfully as he read the data put out by the scanner. "How do you feel, Larena?"

"Well," she was sore all over, her muscles now reminding her just how taxed they'd been, and her hips spoke of nearly being dislocated. "Like I just had six children." She was able to smile a bit, but was sorry to feel that the epidural was definitely wearing off.

The men in the room laughed a bit, Red's left hand wrapping around hers as he leaned over and kissed her again. She leaned into him this time, snuggling into the wonderful warmth of hard muscle, letting his right hand slip behind her back and hug her to him, her body never too tender to bear his touch. Red pulled her closer still, tucking her head beneath his chin and closing his eyes as he spoke. "You were bleeding, talking to us one minute and—"

Larena groaned; she had a foggy memory of the room spinning and feeling a bit nauseated. "I passed out."

"As near as I can tell it was the stress of a multiple birth," Abe's attention was now on the IV bag he'd hung. "Being born and giving birth are both forms of trauma, and you suffered a ruptured artery in the process. We're very glad to have you back with us before we had to resort to invasive methods."

"Invasive?" Why she hadn't taken notice of it before Larena didn't know, but it was suddenly so very obvious. Everyone, including Red, was dressed in greenish-blue gowns, gloves and caps, white masks tied around their necks and hanging over their chests like some of kind of square ascot. She was wearing a blue-green gown herself, with one of those silly shower cap type of things keeping all her hair enclosed. Had the bleeding truly been that bad?

It must have been the look of distress on her face that once again made Professor Bruttenholm step forward and give her that same warm smile. "Abraham is quite a capable surgeon when the situation calls for it. You were never in any serious danger, Miss…"

"It's Larena, Pop." Red said to his father, still holding her close.

"So you've said, my son." Nodded the professor, "But a gentleman waits to learn how a lady wishes to be addressed." At that the old man's eyes drifted up at his son as if reminding him of what proper manners were.

Larena couldn't help but giggle when she felt Red flinch under his father's scrutiny. "Larena is perfectly fine," she smiled at the professor then looked up at Red. "And you'd be very proud of him, Professor. He's never left me feeling anything less than respected."

"There, see?" Red half grunted to the professor. "I ain't the social brute you think I am."

"No," sighed his father with half a smirk. "You most certainly iain't/i." Both Larena and Abe snickered, but just when Red began to bristle, Larena nuzzled her head against his neck, making him have to lean down and kiss her forehead. Bruttenholm smiled again, she was very good with his son. "We must chat sometime soon, Larena. I know you mean a great deal to my son, and you've provided me with six, healthy, strong grandsons, I look forward to getting to know you."

Larena smiled eagerly. "I think I'm up for that!"

"No, you're not." Abe shook his head. "Forgive me, but I think it's best if you concentrate on resting at the moment. I'm keeping you under observation here tonight, and if you're vitals are better in the morning, we'll discuss letting you out, so you may begin being a mother."

"But," Larena protested, her eyes straining to peer through the window into the next sick bay, that negative premonition haunting her again. "My children, I have to be with them."

Professor Bruttenholm glanced at Abe, then stepped forward to take her hand and patted it lightly. "I'm certain Abraham can arrange that."

"And you better find a bigger bed, Blue. Cuz I ain't leavin' her, either!" Red announced.

"Now there's a shock!" Abe replied sarcastically. "I would never have expected such a thing after you demanded that we let you scrub in for the emergency surgery we were prepping to do."

Larena's eyes widened in surprise as she turned to Red; she'd never fathomed anyone would care so much about her. "You were going to assist in my surgery?"

"Well," Red rolled his eyes slightly and cocked his head, the truth was he didn't really want to watch anything like that happening to her, but the intensity of his feelings for her wouldn't let him wait outside. "I was more going to, you know—"

"Kibitz!" Both the professor and Abe said together.

"Yeah," Red sighed half ashamed and half proud. "I'm good at that."

Larena laughed, lifting her chin and kissing Red's cheek softly. The ordeal was terrible for him, she could tell; the fear and the worry and the simultaneous hope were still residual in his amber eyes. "Thank you." She half whispered, drawing Abe's and the professor's attention when her finger wandered up Red's jaw and lovingly traced the rounded base of one horn. Red used to pull away and try to hide his face if her hand came too near to recognizing the bony protrusions above his forehead, but to the surprise of their audience, he'd come to trust that Larena wasn't repulsed by the horns, and he had faith that she accepted him for who he was, not what he was. Red's eyes closed, his head bent forward and he let her touch. "You're everything I've ever wanted, and you try so hard for me," she felt herself choking up, as amazed as she ever that she could be loved as entirely as she was, and by someone like Red. "I love you!"


	8. Facing Fears

_Disclaimer: I do not own "Hellboy" or any characters from the"Hellboy, " comic or movies. They are all the property and creation of Mike Mignola. This was written for the Hellboy Fandom only. I am not making any money from the writing or distribution of this story._

"Right now our biggest tactical problem is the lack of any type of airstrip near Tarmagant Island," Director Manning was studying the map projected onto the wall pensively. Agents filled the room, all of them arguing about what the best course of action was, but Manning was as oblivious to their criticalness and suggestions as was Red, but for different reasons. "If we land here," Manning's finger touched an area of Scotland's mainland. "Then it would be about a day's sail to Tarmagant…admittedly over rough seas…and likely by the time we got to Tarmagant, those six little red beasts will have found a way, or done something, to blow us all to Kingdom Come!"

iSix little what?/i Red flinched and in doing so stunned everyone in the conference room to silence as the large table flipped upside down. For a second he was as startled as everyone else, then became aware of the trembling in both his jumpy hands…ioh/i…had his mind and heart not been racing, he might have set the table back up and apologized for overturning it, but instead he simply stood up, walking over it and began to pace back and forth. He'd known to expect something like this, but he'd been more fearful of it than prepared for it. Oddly enough, he hadn't thought about the added emotional and mental weight of Larena's concern and how much he owed it to her to bring the babies back, safe and sound. He was their father and he was her…her…iwell that needed to be established/i…but he was supposed to provide for and protect his family, damn it! Where were his children? The portal being so suddenly active on Tarmagant did make it the most logical place to search, and Red wanted to, no, he needed to find his children before anyone else did. "I'll make better time by myself, Manning. This is my crisis."

"Oh, is it?" Manning asked, the sincere inflection in his voice not matching the scowl on his face. "Let me see," he pursed his lips and paused in facetious thought. "We let you handle this, on your own, just you making all the calls…this very situation that we wouldn't be dealing with in the first place if you'd been responsible and fore-thinking enough, to abstain, or at the very least, cover the monkey?" He saw Hellboy's yellow eyes narrow, but Manning didn't stop. "And now your best judgment includes allowing you to go after the little red rugrats, by yourself, with no one to stop you when you become overwhelmed with fatherly instinct and decide to protect them and their mission at all costs?" Manning lifted his gaze from Red and looked around at everyone else in the room. "I don't know. Does that sound like a good idea to anyone else present?"

Manning was poised to continue on in a condescending manner, every word burning in Red's blood. Now was no time for the Director to be talking like he was, the man clearly wasn't bright enough to understand the concept of fatherhood and what it did to Red, or to any man. His children were missing, pieces of the human hybrid soul he'd been given were scattered somewhere in the universe…gone…not with him and their mother…vulnerable…it was tearing away at not only him, but the woman he loved, and Red knew he was the only being on the planet who could make any of this better. Manning didn't understand that, or didn't care, but he was about to learn, because Red arched his broad, strong back, stuck out his big shoulders and balled his stone hand up into a fist, then took a giant, aggressive step towards the director, tail switching, but a second before he raised his granite fist, a new found demonic sense flared inside him. Larena, she was near.

"You ain't supposed to be moving around!" Red said the words before he even turned around, and before she'd even opened the glass door of the conference room to come in. His voice was much more gruff and forceful than he ever intended it to be when talking to her, but it couldn't be helped with everything that was bearing down upon him in the conference room, and in the world.

Larena stopped short in the doorway, her legs suddenly refusing to move any further forward, but not because she was afraid of Red. "I know." It would be better just to agree and not argue. After all, she did know that, Abe had given her a very detailed explanation of how she'd nearly bled to death and why she had to stay in bed during her recovery. And she knew Red wouldn't be happy that she hadn't stayed in bed. The closer she got to the conference room, the more she felt like his anger and fear were in her head, ricocheting off of every structure of her mind. He was mad, he was so mad.

"Lar," Red shook his head and sighed, but it came out more as a growl. There was such a storm raging inside him that he didn't notice she'd gone from the sick bay back to his room to change into a pair of black leggings, boots and the short leather trench coat she'd loved so much she'd kept it hidden in her cell at Saint Rita's rather than give it up in her vow of poverty. Likewise, Red hadn't noticed the way all the men in the room bent their heads and craned their necks around his large frame to look at her, their eyes transfixed by every curve of her legs and body, studying her blue eyes and pretty face. He hadn't seen the way Clay's eyebrows raised appreciatively as he elbowed Meyers, and Red hadn't seen how Meyers didn't react, but starred straight ahead at the wall, knowing better than to try for some lewd eyeful no matter how attractive Larena was. All Red saw was Larena's pale skin, the way she wavered a bit on her feet and how deliberate each of her movements were, her body still worn and weak and fragile. She should have been in bed. "Please, I got enough to deal with right now, don't add to it. Go back and lay down!"

"That is advisable!" Seconded Abe, about to get to his feet and walk Larena back to sick bay, but she gave him a pleading look, her thoughts coming through to him clearly. She just wanted the chance to speak and be heard. Abe settled again, but remained at the ready to spring into action should it be needed.

"Excuse me…Miss," Manning snipped, moving to lean on the table top for added smug effect, but forgot that Hellboy had flipped it over, and he nearly crumpled to the ground, stumbling forward comically until he caught himself again, but went on speaking as though it never happened. "This is a 'closed' meeting, agents only, and iyou/i are not an agent!"

Larena had yet to be introduced to Director Manning, but based on Red's descriptions and expressed distaste for the man she knew that had to be him. Once again, there was no sense in arguing. "I know, I'm sorry—"

"No you're not!" Red's voice boomed, but as he spoke he spun around from her to face Manning. "You ain't got any authority over her, Manning!" Red crossed his well muscled arms over his broad red chest and shielded Larena with his body. "Or me…that you got it what it takes to back up, anyway!"

Larena's head began to spin, but it had nothing to do with blood loss. She and Red had just had six children, and she may have been watching him on the verge of being fired. "Red, please," she managed one step forward before her feet felt nailed to the floor and she couldn't move again. She had to lean forward and reach out to grab Red's massive shoulder, distracting him away from Director Manning. Her eyes caught sight of the map of Scotland projected onto the wall, several red arrows, with long tails, pointing towards Tarmagant Island from various points on the mainland. iIs that where they were going? Scotland? No, that didn't feel right./i Now she really wanted to be heard. "Just listen, please?"

Red turned to face her again, ignoring Manning's sneer. He grabbed Larena by her arms, holding a bit too tightly in his abounding concern and fury, but easing up as soon as he felt her tense with the pressure he exerted, but he didn't let go. "Why are you even here? You need to be resting! I already lost my boys; don't make me lose you too! Just…let me do this, please?"

Larena quivered and a tear appeared at the corner of her eye; she'd cried so long now over the babies that any mention of them made her well up, and now she'd upset Red and made him worry about her again. But she couldn't lie in that hospital bed any longer and leave this all up to him; it was killing her. She blinked back her tears and drew in a shuddering breath, raising one hand to stroke Red's face, the other smoothed down the collar of his leather duster, eventually pressing over his heart. "They're my children too, Red." Her voice nearly broke as she suppressed the tears. "Please don't shut me out of this."

Red's head fell forward and he sighed in shame, realizing he'd been thinking of himself and his own grief only, and forgot that he was not alone in this. Would he ever be any good at having a woman in his life, and children too? He looked at Larena again, at the defiance on her face as she fought off the sobs that threatened to overtake her. She was being so brave, trying so hard not to add to the turmoil inside him. She was something to be keeping it together like that just to spare him, but she shouldn't have to be worried about him worrying. There was likely plenty to come for her to worry about. He pulled her against him, kissing the top of her head, the fingers of his left hand disappearing in her red hair as he pressed her closer. "Why you gotta come in here making sense?" He sighed, laying his cheek to the top of her head, but quickly realizing that every agent he worked with in the field and played poker with, worked out with and hung out with on the off time was looking right at him and likely thinking something snarky about the big, red demon's softer side. He straightened again, pulling Larena into his hip with his hand on her back and walked out into the privacy of the corridor with her.

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He was still against taking her along to Tarmagant; there was still so much she didn't know, and it encompassed more than just the destiny of their children. If she knew what he did, if she knew what he faced, if she knew what existed in this world, would she be able to accept it and deal with it? And if she could, would she be able to handle loving someone who faced down dangers like those on a regular basis? What if she couldn't? And their children, the prophecy…not even Red knew what type of ending this story would have yet. iWhat if/i he had to…that was, iwhat if/i there was no other way to keep the world intact, and he was forced to…no, he wouldn't think that, he couldn't think that, he'd sooner die himself before harming his children. But still, iwhat if/i…Larena, it would kill her. He couldn't put her through that, and he couldn't lose her to it either. "Look, I know you understand the basics of what I do, babe. But there's a lot of stuff you don't wanna see, and I don't want any of it to hurt you or make you afraid."

"But Red," he was right, she didn't quite understand what it was he did, or what types of things he encountered, or how hazardous they were, but Larena didn't see that as a reason to be left behind. Both her hands tangled in the lapels of his duster as if she were hanging onto him incase he pulled away. He'd always looked so handsome this way, ready for battle, his yellow eyes gleaming, his sideburns framing his rugged face, the expanse of red muscle peeking through the open long coat, the black leather pants with a half moon of navel arcing tantalizingly over the waistband, the Samaritan hanging from his hip and a rosary dangling delicately from his huge hand. He'd been too much to take in the first time she'd seen him, unable to place just what he was as he defied every category that had flipped through her brain at lightning speed. But she couldn't look away from him either; she never could, no matter how different or unexpected some of his features may have been. A warm and secure feeling of nostalgia crept into her, making Larena able to smile a bit, and her smile only intensified as her stare fell at his huge black boots. "You have to let me see these things." She stepped closer to him, glancing up at his eyes with a flick of her long lashes then looked down at his boots again, his stare following hers this time, both of them looking down at his toes. "I may not be as afraid as you think."

iMaybe?/i She'd proven him wrong before. That warm summer night they'd snuck from her cell out to the pond on the grounds of Saint Rita's hadn't put her off, after all. Red had never been affected much by temperatures, he was always warm and was used to it, but when Larena had suggested it was far too hot to remain within her cramped cell, and proposed a walk in the garden, Red had agreed. He knew she wouldn't bother with changing into her habit, and he could see her so much better in the moonlight outside, and there was so much to look at when she was clad only in her sleeveless cotton nightgown that stopped at her calves…not that he should have been looking in the first place, of course…she was a nun…iand a witch./i

And so they'd walked, talking casually about the safest of things, each of them carefully ignoring what by then simmered under the guise of being ijust friends/i. Red's left arm at some point snuck around her trim waist, pulling her close enough to him as they strolled that he could feel where the fabric of her nightgown ended and the curves of her body began. He was mapping a concocted image of her intimate form in his mind that burned intensely, when he'd felt Larena's long red hair brush the red skin of his arm, then felt her head calmly lean against him. He'd always been so ready for her to reject him, expected it each time he saw her, but tonight he finally felt relaxed enough to trust that she trusted him, and that she saw something in him that went beyond what he was. The feeling flourished so stalwartly that he began to wish that Larena knew what desires he concealed in his touch, and that she was suppressing the exact same fire inside her. Yet when she suddenly stopped walking and looked up at him, he was so terrified that she did realize what he was doing and what he was feeling. But he shortly recognized that she was smiling; whatever she had discovered, it wasn't something she found repulsive.

"The pond!" Larena's smile grew as she reached down to gather the skirt of her nightgown a bit higher around her legs. "Come on, we can wade in up to our knees and cool off!"

She ran to the water's edge, splashing in with her bare feet, giving him quite a carefree show of her shapely legs now that the hem of her gown was above her knee. Red immediately followed her to the water's edge, his body moving without his mind willing it to, until he remembered his boots…idamn!/i Water and leather didn't match well, and he'd already gone through three pairs of boots this month alone; he wasn't an easy size to fit, and Manning would be all over him if he ruined another specially made custom pair. Anyone else would have been able to just go barefoot, but…

When she didn't hear him behind her, Larena turned, standing still and looking confused. "Aren't you coming?" She asked, her smile a bit fainter, looking as though she thought she may have somehow offended him and what he was by suggesting getting into the water.

He did want to; whenever he wasn't close to her all he thought about was being close to her, and standing so near to her and yet still so far away was torture. But he was far away, so very far away from what she was. "Na," Red steeled himself, acted bored and took a seat on the ground, tucking his feet beneath him and wishing he could make them go away completely. "You go ahead."

Larena stood looking back at him, puzzled but her mind working away at what he was hiding. "Don't tell me you can't swim!" She half laughed, slowly making her way back over to him.

"I can swim!" Red nearly snorted, not wanting her to think of him as having any such inability or inadequacy, but he should have just said that was it, it could have put an end to the discussion after all.

"So?" She'd reached the shore now, water dripping down her legs, Red's eyes watching every drop and wishing he could be one of them, clinging so closely to her body. "What's wrong then? Do you not like water? Does it…do isomething/i to you?"

"When did I turn into the 'Wicked Witch' from Oz?" It was difficult to laugh as he said it, but he'd somehow managed. She'd lay her head against his arm tonight, made him actually hope that she felt something for him, but there it was, her recognition that they were not the same thing, that he wasn't human, not the way she was; the boots, they were definitely staying on!

"Red," Larena was shaking her head as she sat down next to him, what had started out as curiosity now turning to worry on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He wished she'd just drop it, and he tried to think of something to change the subject to as he unconsciously tucked his feet more beneath him. iStupid hot summer night…stupid pond…stupid leather boots…/i

"Right," Larena rolled her eyes sarcastically. "A minute ago I thought you were going to climb into my nightgown with me, and now you're being all shy," she laughed a bit as she finished her sentence, but Red knew it was because she was nervous, maybe realizing too late that she'd introduced a rather provocative image where she had meant to say something silly. She stammered a bit as she composed herself again, Red aiding her in her quest by not acknowledging the whole nightgown comment…ibut oooh, that was something to think about!/i Larena took a deep breath, finally over it and herself. "Just tell me, what's wrong?"

He didn't want to talk about it; it wasn't going to end well. He didn't even want to look at her, but he did, and then was sorry he did. Her brow was creased, her eyes narrowed with the weight of her concern, and one of her hands had actually moved to her chest, covering her heart as though some kind of bad news had just befallen her. Red began to realize that if he didn't tell her something, she'd assume she'd done something wrong and blame herself, and he couldn't allow that to happen. "It's…" iwell, what was it?/i What could he make up, if anything? "I can't take my boots off."

Larena looked at him a bit more confused, but her features soon relaxed and she smiled sweetly again. "Because of your hand?" She asked, indicating the mass of granite that hung from his right arm.

iSmooth move, Ex-Lax!/i Now she thought of him as some helpless and dexterity lacking toddler that couldn't tie his shoes! "No, not like that, that's not it. I just can't…take them off."

"Are they like…" Larena cocked her head and looked at him strangely. "Stuck to you?"

"What?" Even Red was perplexed now as to what she could mean or how she could think he was somehow melded to his footwear, and his tone began to indicate how absurd she'd sounded.

"Well, if you weren't being so cryptic I wouldn't have to make such oddball guesses." Larena sighed, looking off across the pond for a moment, saying nothing. She was quiet for a while, just staring off, and just when Red began to think that the discussion was over, she turned back to him, cocking her head again and eyeing him with a sly and satisfied smile. "You don't want me to see your feet!"

iDamn! Double damn!/i He pushed the shock of being discovered from his mind and laughed, more uneasily than convincingly. "Oh, you're way off, sister!"

"Really?" Red expected her to begin presenting all the evidence he'd given her to the contrary, was readying himself to mount his defense, but she surprised him when she laid a gentle hand on his left arm and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't like my feet either." She said and grew a bit fidgety as she did so.

Now she was just trying to depreciate herself to make him feel better. "What could possibly be wrong with your feet? You're beautiful!"

A sudden cockeyed smile crossed her face, she tried to hide it, but Red caught it, along with the slight blush that crept into her skin, what was going on with her? iBeautiful…oops…too much?/i He was on the verge of apologizing for saying anything that made her uncomfortable, but Larena spoke first. "Thank you," she almost gasped, then had to clear her throat a bit. "But, my toes aren't."

That was impossible, she was beautiful from head to toes, literally—he'd know. "What's wrong with 'em?" Before he knew it his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he'd reached down and grabbed her ankle, making her knee bend and took her foot towards him.

"Red!" Larena shrieked, whether because she truly was ithat/i insecure about her feet or because she was startled by how he'd just grabbed her ankle, he wasn't sure. But she was laughing soon and only mildly fighting him as he examined her foot, laughing some himself now. "It's my second toe," she said, her leg trembling excitedly a bit when his right hand came to gently support her calf. "It's the longest toe on my foot, and it looks kinda…kinda not so much like a toe…"

Red felt his features contort as he looked at the digit she'd mentioned. Indeed, it was the longest, a good quarter of an inch longer than her big toe, like it perhaps was aspiring to be a finger. "Yeah," he agreed, for a moment forgetting that she may have some genuine embarrassment attached to the oddity. "That looks like…like…well, if we cut it off and then threw it in the corner somewhere, whoever found it would pick it up and say, 'what the hell is this?'!" He laughed.

At that Larena kicked and yanked, trying to get her foot back from his grasp. "Oh, thanks! That makes me feel so much better!" She tried to sound mad, but she laughed, and Red held tighter just to spite her, a meager wrestling match ensuing that had them both laughing, until Larena leaned back and stretched her arms out towards his feet and he felt his boot being tugged on fiercely. "I showed you mine," she laughed, gripping the heel and toe of his boot harder as Red fought to pull away. "Now show me yours!"

"Don't!" He warned, his voice turning serious, but not soon enough. His boot popped off, his eyes immediately slammed closed, not wanting to see the ensuing look of revulsion on Larena's face as she stared down at the terrible thing he'd kept hidden from her. He couldn't plug his ears though, whatever horrific scream she let out, he'd hear it for sure…for the rest of his life.

"Oh!" Her breath hitched, there was surprise in her voice, she had been caught off guard by what she saw, but she wasn't screaming. She wasn't even pulling away from him. She was silent for a few seconds, taking it all in…iyeah, cuz she was trying to decide if she should be or was horrified/i…but if she was, she was sure hiding it well. If anything, dare he think it, it all seemed to be making logical sense to her. And next he was astounded to feel her steady fingertip gently trace the shape of first one half of his broad cloven hoof, and then the other. iShe touched the tragedy that was his foot? Really?/i Red let go of her ankle and she took the opportunity to move further down his leg, scrutinizing his foot more and more. She drew her finger down the cleft between his two hoofed toes and down what would have been the sole of his foot, ending at the part he'd learned to walk on as heel, discovering it was actually a joint there and not solid bone. He saw her eyes crease as if she felt some sort of pain, and finally she looked up at his face again, questions in her eyes. "How do you…I mean, doesn't it hurt you to walk like that?"

Was he hearing her right? Was this really even happening the way it was happening? Or had he merely wanted it to be like this so very badly he was imagining it all, and right now Larena was actually screaming her head off and running as far away from him as was possible? Red shook his head and blinked once or twice, peering down at her again just to be sure it wasn't the latter. iTake two the same as take one…well, why panic if she wasn't?/i "I only walk like that when I have shoes on."

Larena nodded, still looking at his foot. "Then," she paused a moment, starting to smile, Red recognizing that her mind was working, figuring stuff out again. "You're actually taller than I always thought you were?"

"Yeah," Red felt himself smiling and nearly forgot the nightmare he'd been so sure this moment would become. Larena actually seemed impressed with him, had even expressed concern that he was putting himself in jeopardy folding his lower leg up and cramming it into shoes. He began to feel badly that he'd said what he'd said about her toe.

"So, how tall are you really?" Her smile broadened, she was leaning closer to him now, her hand stroking up his leg and he wondered if she realized she was doing it, hoping she'd continue doing it. iBig guys musta turned her on…good, he had that./i Both of them were forgetting the awkwardness that had hung over this issue only a minute or two ago.

Red kicked off his other boot without hesitation, then reached down and took both of Larena's hands, lifting her to her feet as he got to his, letting the folded "heel" joint straighten as it did naturally, the wide base of his hooves taking his weight entirely and comfortably, and he looked down at her from his full height. "About seven feet," he said confidently, proudly jutting out his broad chest for added effect.

She was smiling up at him. iNo, that was more than just a garden variety smile…she was giving him the eye!/i And then she stepped even closer and laid her head against him again, this time against the bottom of his chest, as he was now a full twenty-two inches taller than she was. He'd never forget how soft her hair felt against his skin, or the way she slowly turned her head and pressed her cheek just below his sternum. "Cool!" She murmured through her smile then wrapped her arms around him, her hands pressing against the thick muscles of his back, conveying how much she wished to know his body. For the very first time, she hugged him; her sigh conveying how no amount of physical closeness would ever match how close to him she felt when he chose to let her in.

center* * * * * */center

Manning wasn't at all happy that she was here, and playing such a major part in this briefing to boot, but as Abe and Professor Bruttenholm coached Larena with her unrefined psychic abilities, Red's face eased from tense worry into a smirk. They'd need her to guide them, but Red still wasn't all for taking Larena along on this mission, but Manning was suffering far worse than he was over it, and that felt good! The professor had overruled Manning on investigating Larena's intuitive claim that Tarmagant was the wrong place to be heading, even though she could only offer the odd dream she'd had as the reason why she felt so strongly about it, yet could propose no suggestion of what the right direction to head in was. But when Red saw the wry smile spread over his father's features, he knew that the old man knew the answer had come to Larena, even if she didn't know it herself.

"Think back to the vision you had, Larena," Abe directed in his dulcet tone, holding both of Larena's hands and trying to transfer enough of his own intuitive energies into her so that she may sustain the images appearing to her. She sat in a chair across from him with her eyes shut, struggling a bit, but clearly learning how to gain access to what she wanted to know. "Let it come to you, where are you?"

"I," this was not the type of phenomena she was familiar with; the ghosts were always very forthright in telling her what they wanted or needed or expected. But trying to gleam information from a lucid dream was like interpreting a segment of a play or movie that had no beginning or ending. She could see it again though, the girl with dark brown hair chanting over the trough of black, bubbling water, something about to make its dark emergence. "I'm getting a name…Catherine…Catherine Tanner-Tremaine."

At that Red's head jerked up and he looked at his father, both their expressions suddenly grim and startled. "Pop, isn't that my—"

Professor Bruttenholm raised his hand, quieting his son and was soon to regain his calm, kind visage. "Very good, my dear." He smiled, patting Larena's hand and signaling her that it was alright to come out of it now, for he could see how tiring it was for her to delve so deeply into a void that was still so new to her. He looked up at the agents sitting around the table, that had once again been righted, all of them eagerly awaiting a final word on what this all meant. "The portal may be open on Tarmagant Island, but East Bromwich, England, most likely Bromwich Church, is where this search will begin!"

Larena slumped forward a bit as she drew a deep breath, Abe catching her by the shoulder and Red soon moving beside her. "This all obviously means something to you, doesn't it?" She asked as Red sat her up straight again.

"Yeah," he glanced at his father again, but the old man was perfectly calm once more, standing and moving towards the door, no doubt on his way to the library for some last minute research. iCatherine Tanner-Tremaine? Bromwich Church? Oh, yeah…he wouldn't be here without either of them!/i "It does."

"It's bad isn't it?" She raised her head, looking to Red then to Abe, hoping for a negative answer from both of them. "I mean, spirits, ghosts, souls that have crossed over are what seek me out and tell me things…what if this information somehow came to me from the children…" her lip began to quiver and tears were appearing in her eyes again as she reached for Red. "Then, our babies are—" 

"No!" Red surprised himself by how adamant his voice was; he was even pointing a granite finger at her. "They're not, forget about that!"

Abe surprised them both when he nodded. "I agree," he said, looking at Larena and Red. "It's all coming together now, Larena. When you were bleeding, when you became unconscious, that was the children drawing energy from you, so that they could be protected and have the strength to make this…journey they are on."

Maybe she only believed Abe because it was better than not believing him—but in the short time that Larena had known him, he hadn't proven himself to the type to lie just to make her feel better about something. He was far more accomplished than she ever imagined herself to be when it came to making functional use of intuitive gifts; if this was Abe's premonition, she should trust it. A huge weight felt lifted off of her shoulders and with an enlightened sigh, she sat up straight under her own power. "They're safe, then?" She half smiled, taking Red's hand and holding it tightly.

Abe's mouth rounded into as much of a smile as it could. "With the father and mother they have to draw strength from, I would be quite astounded if they weren't so."

The relieved sighs of Larena and Red echoed in unison as they drew close, forehead to filed horns, but the moment was short lived, for Clay was soon standing over them, clearing his throat and obviously not sure how to politely interrupt a moment such as the one he was interrupting.

"Hey, uh, HB…and…" he looked at Larena, trying to find something appropriate to address her as, but nothing came to mind. "Miss…Ms…"

"What is it, Clay?" Red finally said, but he looked at Larena instead of at Clay. Is that what she had to look forward to around here? Everyone knowing who she was with and how, but people forever stammering about with 'Miss' or 'Ms.' or being tagged with something like ithe demon's girl/i? Okay, so them as a couple was perhaps different…and maybe even a little weird by some standards…but would anyone ever learn to just call her by her name?

"We'll be rolling out of here in about an hour or two, got some extra time now that Tarmagant isn't our target. You got anything to do last minute, now's the time." Clay said, giving Red's broad shoulder a pat, and then turned to walk away.

Red nodded, anxious to get to East Bromwich and regretting that they would have so much time to kill before they left. He looked up at Larena, who smiled anxiously back at him, but nodded her head, letting him know she was okay, that she could deal with it all. Red brushed her hair behind her ear, his eyes meeting hers, feeling that same connection with her he'd never felt with anyone else, she was amazing. iHmm…two free hours?/i "Hey, Clay!" He called to the burly agent over his shoulder; his yellow eyes still staring into the blue of Larena's eyes…the world once again turning green.

"Yeah?" Clay looked up from a clipboard, hoping Red wasn't suddenly remembering that he'd been among those checking out Larena when she'd come into the conference room. He didn't want to end up in the doghouse Meyer's was in.

The fingers of Red's left hand stroked lightly over Larena's palm. "You feelin' okay?" He asked her, still worried about the lack of bed rest she was getting. She nodded, knowing he was up to something and trying to discern what, giving him a look like she knew whatever it was, they probably shouldn't be doing it. Red only laughed then turned towards Clay. "We're sneaking out. Kinda need you to come with."


End file.
